The latest study by cybersecurity company Surfshark shows that a total of 31.5M accounts were breached in Q3 2023, with the United States ranking first and amounting to around a quarter of all breaches (8.1M) from July through September. Russia takes second place, while France is third, followed by China and Mexico. There is a four times decrease in breached users worldwide compared to Q2 2023. Europe was the most affected region by data breaches, followed by North America and Asia.
Global data from Surfshark’s data breach statistics update (Q2 2023) records 110.8M leaked accounts, with the US being 1st in the world (49.8M), followed by Russia (15.3M), Spain (3.7M), France (3.4M), and Turkey (2.8M). Globally, data breaches increased almost 3 times compared to the previous quarter, from 6 to over 14 user accounts leaked every second in Q2 2023. That is 855 accounts per minute versus 334 accounts per minute in the previous quarter.
Global data from Surfshark’s data breach statistics update (Q3 2023) records 31.5M leaked accounts, with the US 1st in the world (8.1M), followed by Russia (7.1M), France (1.6M), China (1.5M), and Mexico (1.2M). Globally, data breaches decreased more than four times compared to the previous quarter, from 17 to 4 user accounts leaked every second in Q3 2023.
“The third quarter of 2023 shows a general decrease in data breach count. Yet every minute, over 240 online accounts were compromised globally, exposing sensitive information to malicious actors,” says Agneska Sablovskaja, Lead Researcher at Surfshark. “We recommend a vigilant approach by maintaining accounts only on actively used platforms and implementing two-factor authentication for enhanced security.”
Europe was the most affected region by breaches in Q3 2023, followed by North America and Asia
In Q3 2023, Europe’s data breaches decreased four times, dropping from 48.1M in Q2 2023 to 10.9M in Q3 2023. To put this into perspective, 1 in 2.9 accounts breached in Q3 2023 originated from Europe, with 65% of these being Russian.
North America accounts for 30% of the quarter’s breaches (9.5M). North America’s breaches dropped 82% in Q3 2023 compared to the previous quarter.
An additional 12% of the accounts originated from Asia (3.8M). All other regions comprised less than 8% of the quarter’s total, and almost 15% remain unknown. Out of all regions, Oceania saw the greatest quarter-over-quarter decrease – 91%, bringing its total of 3.3M leaked accounts in Q2 2023 down to 289.6k in Q3 2023.
In descending order, the ten most breached countries of Q3 2023 were the US, Russia, France, China, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Malaysia, the UK, and India.
The countries with the highest breach density (number of leaked accounts per 1,000 residents): Russia (49), France (25), the US (24), Colombia (15), Malaysia (14), Trinidad and Tobago (14), Denmark (10), Switzerland (10), Peru (10) and Jamaica (10).
Steps after account breach: 1. Change your passwords. 2. Contact your bank if your credit card details were compromised. 3. Scan your devices for malware. 4. Request deletion of the leaked account if you don’t use the service.
