https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/data-breach
A data breach is any security incident in which unauthorized parties access sensitive or confidential information, including personal data (Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, healthcare data) and corporate data (customer records, intellectual property, financial information).
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/security-101/what-is-a-data-breach
May 29, 2026 · A data breach is a security incident in which protected, confidential, or sensitive data is accessed, acquired, or disclosed without authorization, or is misused by authorized users beyond their intended permissions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_breach
A data breach, also known as data leakage, is "the unauthorized exposure, disclosure, or loss of personal information ". [1] Attackers have a variety of motives, from financial gain to political activism, political repression, and espionage.
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/what-is-data-breach/
Apr 10, 2026 · A data breach is a security incident in which bad actors gain access to one or more computer systems and expose data—or demand payment to return the data (a ransomware attack).
https://www.cyberhaven.com/infosec-essentials/what-is-data-breach
Feb 9, 2026 · A data breach is a security incident in which sensitive, confidential, or protected information is accessed, disclosed, stolen, or used without authorization. Data breaches can involve personal data, financial records, intellectual property, customer information, or regulated data such as healthcare or payment card information.
https://www.security.org/identity-theft/breach/
Jun 11, 2026 · A data breach is a security incident in which a third party accesses data without the consent of the data’s owner, which could be either a business, its customers, or both.
https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/what-is-a-data-breach/
Apr 3, 2026 · Quick Answer A data breach is the theft of personal information, such as Social Security numbers, credit card numbers or passwords, from an organization’s digital records. Criminals may use stolen data to impersonate you and seek credit in your name.
https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/i-m-worried-about-how-an-organisation-has-handled-my-information/what-is-a-data-breach/
What is a data breach? Due to changes made by the Data (Use and Access) Act, this guidance is under review and may be subject to change. The Plans for new and updated guidance page will tell you about which guidance will be updated and when this will happen.
https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/learn/topics/security/what-is-a-data-breach.html
A data breach is a security violation or incident that leads to the theft of sensitive or critical data or its exposure to an unauthorized party. These incidents can be intentional, such as a database hack, or accidental, such as an employee emailing confidential files to the wrong recipient.
https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/data-breach
To define data breach: a data breach exposes confidential, sensitive, or protected information to an unauthorized person. The files in a data breach are viewed and/or shared without permission. Anyone can be at risk of a data breach — from individuals to high-level enterprises and governments.
