Data Breaches Becoming More Focused

Posted: Feb 04 2026

Financial services remained the top target for data breaches in 2025, and while the overall number of breaches continues to rise, attackers are more selective in who they set their sights on, according to the annual data breach report by the Identity Theft Resource Center.

The U.S. financial services sector experienced 739 data compromises in 2025, up from 733 the year before, according to the report. Healthcare was the second most targeted sector with 534 data breaches. Professional services – which includes lawyers, accountants, and consultants –experienced 478 compromises last year, up from 344 the year before.

The U.S. saw a record 3,322 data compromises in 2025, representing 79% increase over five years, according to the report. However, the number of total victims dropped sharply from 1.36 billion in 2024 to 278.8 million in 2025, in part because attackers have shifted away from “mega-breaches” to more frequent, targeted attacks on high-value data sources.

The report also found that nearly 40% of small businesses are passing their breach cleanup costs on to consumers through price increases, “turning cyber-risk into a national inflationary issue.”

To view the report, visit: https://www.idtheftcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2025-ITRC-Annual-Data-Breach-Report.pdf