Data Breaches that Could Lead to Identity Theft by Cause

In the first half of 2007, the primary cause of data breaches that could facilitate identity theft was the theft or loss of a computer or other medium on which data is stored or transmitted, such as a USB key or a back-up medium. These made up 46% of all such data breaches during this period. Theft or loss accounted for 57% of all reported breaches in the previous reporting period. Despite this, theft or loss of a computers and storage media only accounted for 11% of all identities exposed.

Source: Based on data provided by Attrition