Whilst data breaches can affect every industry, cybercriminals target specific industries based on maximum impact and profit. In terms of which types of industries are most at risk, new research has revealed the top ten industries losing the most money to data breaches.
A review by Proxyrack looks into the countries and industries losing the most money to data breaches and the data has been provided to Digital Journal for review. As well as highlighting specific industrial sectors, the review notes the countries that are most commonly targeted by data breaches.
The top 10 industries losing the most money to data breaches
| Rank | Industry | Average Data Breach Cost |
| 1 | Healthcare | $9,230,000 |
| 2 | Financial | $5,720,000 |
| 3 | Pharmaceuticals | $5,040,000 |
| 4 | Technology | $4,880,000 |
| 5 | Energy | $4,650,000 |
| 5 | Services | $4,650,000 |
| 7 | Industrial | $4,240,000 |
| 8 | Entertainment | $3,800,000 |
| 9 | Education | $3,790,000 |
| 10 | Transportation | $3,750,000 |
The table indicates that healthcare has been named the industry losing the most money to data breaches with an average cost nearly $4 billion higher than any other industry.
In terms of geographical spread, the U.S. is the most commonly targeted country in the world by data breaches with over seven million breaches per million people. France followed in second, with South Sudan in third.
The scale of these data breaches is also costly. In 2021, the average data breach cost for companies with 81 to 100 percent of remote employees was over $5.5 million, whereas companies with 61 to 80 percent of remote employees had an average data breach cost of just under $4.4 million.
The average cost of a data breach now stands at US$4 million, or $138 per lost or stolen record. For some industries, the sensitive nature of the data transmitted across their networks puts this figure even higher.
Given the high placement of the U.S. in terms of attack numbers, the resultant costs are greatest as well. In total the U.S. has had over 2.4 billion data breaches, with 30 million happening in 2022 and 452 million occurring in the last three years.
Therefore, it is unsurprising that the U.S. has the highest data breach cost in the world, with an average cost of $9.05 million. The Middle East followed in second with an average cost of $6.93 million, with Canada third.
