A snapshot of data breaches in California: 6 key points

California Attorney General Kamala Harris released the "California Data Breach Report," which details the type, frequency and magnitude of data breaches in the state from 2012 to 2015.

Here are six key points from the report.

1. From 2012 to 2015, the 657 data breaches were reported to the state's attorney general. These breaches affected more than 49 million records.

2. Data breaches steadily increased each year during the period included in the report. In 2012, there were 131 breaches, affecting 2.6 million records. By 2015, the number of breaches was up to 178 with 24 million compromised records.

3. Healthcare accounted for 16 percent of the breaches included in the report. Healthcare data was most vulnerable to physical breaches, but the report noted the rise in malware and hacking breaches.

4. Medical records were affected in 19 percent of the breaches, representing 18 million compromised records.

5. Social Security numbers were the most often breached type of data, as a total of 24 million records containing SSN numbers were breached during the report period.

6. The types of breaches affecting California in 2015 included:

•    Malware and hacking: 58 percent
•    Physical breaches: 17 percent
•    Breaches caused by errors: 17 percent

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