How Data Breaches Happen, by Method
Source:
Wikipedia, List of data breaches
Key Findings
🏆
Hacked leads in Recorded Incidents with 185 in 2026.
📊
Average Recorded Incidents in 2026: 31.27 · median: 13.
↔️
Gap in 2026: Hacked is 61.7× larger than Web scraping.
About This Dataset
How Data Breaches Happen, by Method
How 344 recorded data breaches break down by the method behind them. The source records the method as free text, so near-identical wordings are grouped here: "hacked" covers everything from a stolen password to a zero-day exploit, while "poor security" means data left openly accessible with no attack involved at all.
Analysis
Hacked accounts for 185 of the 344 recorded breaches, 53.8% of them and 3.8 times the 49 attributed to poor security. The 11 methods here cover 344 incidents, 100.0% of the list. Deliberate attacks are not the whole story: 108 incidents are attributed to poor security, accidents, lost devices or insiders. The smallest category on this chart has 3.
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- Wikipedia, List of data breaches
- Coverage
- 11 entities · 2026 · 11 observations
- Measure
- Recorded Incidents
- Last updated
- 7 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
How the figures are calculated
- Values use the measure and unit named on this page. Consult the dataset description and cited source for coverage, definitions and any unit conversions. Displayed values may be rounded for readability.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2026.
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
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