The overall number of data leaks globally is decreasing, but their frequency is still a cause for concern. According to the 2024 results, Russia ranked second among the analyzed countries in the number of incidents — Russian companies accounted for 8.5% of data compromise cases recorded worldwide. At the same time, our country rose from seventh to fifth place in the ranking of personal data leaks. The data was obtained from a report by the InfoWatch group of companies.
At the end of 2024, Russia recorded a leak of 1.58 billion records, which is 31.7% more than in the previous year. In the United States, 5.53 billion leaks were recorded during the same period, in China — 3.93 billion, in India — 2.34 billion, in Spain — 2.08 billion.
At the same time, the number of leaks in the USA, India, and China decreased by 32–69%, which was also noted by InfoWatch. This is attributed to previously taken measures to strengthen security.
According to company research, the United States of America still leads in the number of data leak cases (36.1% of the global total). In Russia, every twelfth leak was recorded in 2024 (8.5%).
In absolute terms, there were 3,310 leaks in the USA, while in 2023 there were 4,823. In Russia, 778 leak cases were registered in 2024, while in 2023 there were 786.
InfoWatch specialists note that Russia has managed to stop the growth in the number of information leaks. The share of leaks in Russia increased from 6.4% to 8.5%, while the total number of leaks in the world decreased.
According to an InfoWatch study, the following industries will be most vulnerable to information leaks in 2024: trade, industry, the IT sector and information security, government bodies, and banks.
It is interesting to note that compared to 2023, some changes have occurred in this list: the trade sector rose to second place, displacing the IT industry. Otherwise, the top 5 remained the same.
According to the company, 9,175 cases of data leaks from state and commercial organizations were registered worldwide in 2024. This is 25.2% less than in 2023, when 12,265 such incidents were recorded.
In 2024, 26.77 billion records with personal data were leaked online, while in 2023 this figure was 48.46 billion.
2023 retained the sad record for the number of incidents leading to data compromise.
In 2024, Russian companies recorded about half a million DDoS attacks, which is almost twice as high as in 2023. Regional enterprises are most often the victims. Experts attribute this to the search for more vulnerable targets and changes in the geopolitical situation.
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