10 Largest Data Breaches Since 2000 – Millions Affected

In light of the MySpace photo breach (due to their negligence) a couple of months ago, I got to wondering about other recent data breaches. It turns out Attrition.org keeps a Data Loss Archive and Database that contains known data breaches since 2000. Records include date, number affected, groups involved, summaries, and links to reported stories and updates. It’s surprisingly detailed and even better, it’s all available for download.

The above graphic shows the 10 largest data breaches which affected millions. I thought the 800,000 records thieved from UCLA a couple of years ago (that my information was unfortunately a part of) was a lot. That’s nothing compared to these.

Notice the higher frequency as we get closer to the present?

[Thanks Ryan | Welcome, Boing Boing readers]

15 Comments

Become a member. Support an independent site. Make great charts.

See What You Get

Favorites

How You Will Die

So far we’ve seen when you will die and how other people tend to die. Now let’s put the two together to see how and when you will die, given your sex, race, and age.

Guessing Names Based on What They Start With

I’m terrible at names, but maybe data can help. Put in your sex, the decade when you were born, and start putting in your name. I’ll try to guess before you’re done.

Seeing How Much We Ate Over the Years

How long will chicken reign supreme? Who wins between lemon and lime? Is nonfat ice cream really ice cream? Does grapefruit ever make a comeback? Find out in these charts.

Years You Have Left to Live, Probably

The individual data points of life are much less predictable than the average. Here’s a simulation that shows you how much time is left on the clock.