On the Evolution of Data Breach Reporting Patterns and Frequency in the United States: A Cross-State Analysis

Abstract

Understanding the emergence of data breaches is crucial for cyber insurance and risk management. However, analyses of data breach frequency trends in the current literature lead to contradictory conclusions. We put forward that those discrepancies may be (at least partially) due to inconsistent data collection standards, as well as reporting patterns, over time and space. We set out to carefully control both. In this article, we conduct a joint analysis of state attorneys general’s publications on data breaches across eight states (namely, California, Delaware, Indiana, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, and Washington), all of which are subject to established data collection standards; n..