Help Net Security – (National) Data breaches expose 94 million records in the government sector. An analysis of government breach data shows that the government sector reported 268 incidents of data breaches from January 1, 2009 to May 31, 2012, which exposed more than 94 million records containing personally identifiable information (PII), according to Rapid7. The research revealed a 50 percent increase in the number of compromises affecting the government sector from 2009 to 2010, as well as a skyrocketing rise in the number of records exposed each year, with the number tripling from 2010 to 2011. Unintended disclosure, the loss/theft of portable devices, physical loss, and hacking continue to be the leading causes of breaches. Analyzing data collected and categorized by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse - 14 - Chronology of Data Breaches, Rapid7 discovered additional details regarding breach incidents and government records that were exposed. The number of hacking incidents increased nearly 50 percent year-over-year between 2009 and 2011, with 2012 on pace to more than double that of 2011 entirely. Between January 1, 2012 and May 31, 2012, government agencies reported more hacking incidents than any other type of incident. California (21), District of Columbia (20) and Texas (16) reported the greatest amount of incidents across the country.
