ULI LOKSHIN – Page 3 – Pretectum Customer MDM

The sectors most affected by data breaches in 2025 are healthcare, finance and insurance, manufacturing, hospitality, retail, education, and the food supply chain.

Healthcare remains particularly vulnerable, experiencing some of the year’s largest breaches—such as the Yale New Haven Health System incident affecting 5.5 million individuals and the Blue Shield of California breach impacting 4.7 million people. Ransomware continues to be a major threat in healthcare, with a notable 25% increase in attacks, and the industry faces elevated risks of identity theft and medical fraud.

Finance and insurance also face high attack rates, including a 65% rise in API and web application attacks and high costs per breach (averaging $5.9 million to $6.08 million)1. Retail, hospitality, and the food supply chain (e.g., United Natural Foods Inc.’s attack disrupting North American grocery supply) have also been targets of ransomware and supply chain attacks, leading to both data exposure and operational shutdowns.

Public and legal sectors have experienced significant breaches, including the Legal Aid Agency and government data broker incidents, often involving highly sensitive or personally identifiable information. Education faces continuous targeting for the theft of student and staff data.

In summary, the sectors most impacted by recent breaches include:

Healthcare
Finance and insurance
Retail and hospitality
Manufacturing
Food supply chain and grocery distribution
Public sector and legal services
Education

These industries are primarily targeted due to the high value and sensitivity of the data they hold, shown by the scale and impact of breaches throughout 2025.

Author: ULI LOKSHIN

Data Breaches Are on the Rise