Monetary losses from corporate data breaches in the US

Data breaches in today’s technology-driven world can affect hundreds of millions, if not billions, at once. Companies must ensure that data is adequately protected. However, some of the largest breaches have occurred in the last decade.

But which state in the United States has suffered the most monetary losses as a result of corporate data breaches?

Interested in this, Forbes Advisor utilized the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) data from the past five years to determine which US state had the most corporate breaches, and which had the highest total cost lost.

Key findings, and which state suffered the most monetary losses from data breaches:

• California data breaches have cost the state over $80 million over five years.
   
• Florida places second with data breaches resulting in nearly $58 million in losses.
   
• In 2017, California had the worst year for data breaches, with 632 businesses affected.
   
• Indiana experienced the greatest increase in financial losses over the last five years, with losses increasing by 1,290 percent!
   
• Over the last five years, data breaches have affected 11,343 businesses in America, resulting in losses of $431,854,725.

The US state that suffered the most corporate data breaches from 2017-2021

Forbes Advisor can reveal that California has experienced the most corporate data breaches in the last five years! The state has seen a total of 1,807 different business data breaches, resulting in losses of $81,013,216. California has seen financial losses increase by 253% in the last five years, with 2017 being the worst year in the state for data breaches, with 632.

Florida is second, with 956 businesses in the state suffering data breaches, resulting in losses of $57,773,356. Over the last five years, financial losses have increased by 154%, with 2017 again being the worst year for business data breaches in Florida overall, with 300.

Texas ranks third, with a total of 1,587 corporate data breach victims. Despite having more businesses affected by data breaches than in Florida (956), Texas ranks lower with business losses totaling $48,592,966.

New York comes in fourth with 705 businesses affected by a data breach and a loss of $38,611,033, while Pennsylvania rounds out the top five with 380 data breach victims and a loss of $17,812,711.

Corporate data breaches in the USA 2017-2021

Rob Watts, a Business Editor at Forbes Advisor shared his tips for trying to keep your company’s data safe:

"All told, there is no single solution when it comes to protecting your company's data. True protection comes from a combination of the right software tools, employee knowledge on cyber threats, and established best practices in using company tech. Many data breaches come as a result of human error, so it's important to make your employees as knowledgeable as possible when it comes to spotting and countering threats."

Methodology

1. Forbes Advisor sought to determine which US state had suffered from the most corporate data breaches in the last five years.
    
2. To do so, corporate data breaches that had occurred from 2017 to 2021 were obtained from the Internet Crime Complaint Center. The source provides a comprehensive account of internet crime complaints in those years.
    
3. All of the internet complaints for all 50 states in America were put together and analyzed.
    
4. Then, the corporate data breaches information was extracted from the report and grouped together in one table, which was then ranked from the highest to lowest in each state.
    
5. Following this, the average losses per data breach were calculated and sorted from most expensive to least expensive.
    
6. The data was collected on 06/06/22 and is accurate as of then.