791 data breaches so far in 2017: 6 things to know

Julie Spitzer -

There have been 791 data breaches tracked in the first half of the year, a record high, according to an Identity Theft Resource Center report obtained by Becker's.

For the report, ITRC gathered and analyzed data breach information from public notices in the U.S. The report, sponsored by CyberScout, comprises five industries: financial, health/medical, government/military, education and business.

Here are six things to know.

1. The health/medical industry experienced 179 breaches in the first half of the year, accounting for 22.6 percent of all U.S. data breaches.

2. The leading cause of data breaches across all industries was hacking (63 percent), including phishing and malware. Phishing attacks (47.7 percent) were more prevalent than malware attacks (18.6 percent). 

3. ITRC estimates 12.4 million people have had their information exposed in the first half of 2017, the majority (38.8 percent) of which occurred in Kansas.

4. California experienced the most data breaches (110) in the first half of 2017.

5. Sixty percent of this year's data breaches have exposed Social Security numbers.

6. The ITRC predicts the number of breaches reported in 2017 could reach 1,500, a 37 percent annual increase over 2016, which saw a record 1,093 breaches.

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