Surfshark, a leading cybersecurity firm, has released its annual report on data breaches for the year 2023, revealing India as the 5th most breached country globally. According to the report, a staggering 5.3 million accounts were compromised in India last year, marking a significant improvement from the previous year’s position and breach rate.
The report highlights that while India ranked 7th in 2022 with 12.3 million leaked accounts, the breach rate in the country decreased by 56 percent in 2023. Despite this positive trend, the data breach scenario remains concerning, with approximately 10 Indian user accounts being leaked every minute throughout the year.
Agneska Sablovskaja, Lead Researcher at Surfshark, emphasized the global impact of data breaches, stating, “As we look back on 2023, there’s a positive trend in data breaches – a 20 percent decrease in affected accounts compared to 2022. Despite this improvement, 300 million users worldwide still experienced breaches.” Sablovskaja further cautioned against the risks associated with data breaches, underscoring the potential for unauthorized access, identity theft, and financial fraud.
The United States topped the list of breached countries in 2023, accounting for nearly one-third of all breaches globally, with approximately 100 million compromised accounts. Russia, France, and Spain followed the US in the rankings, with India rounding up the top five.
LinkedIn, the professional networking platform, faced one of the largest instances of data exposure in 2023, with almost 11.5 million email addresses leaked due to the scraping of publicly available information. Similarly, several Russian platforms experienced significant breaches, collectively exposing around 20 million email accounts.
The report also highlights breaches affecting popular online platforms such as Duolingo and chess.com, underscoring the widespread nature of cyber threats. Additionally, the analysis reveals regional disparities in breach occurrences, with Europe, North America, and Asia being the most affected regions.
