Who is to blame for data breaches?

Asked by: Wilfred Zieme  |  Last update: August 20, 2025
Score: 4.2/5 (34 votes)

Human error is responsible for 74% of data breaches. The number of cybersecurity incidents and data breaches gets more alarming every year.

Who is responsible for a data breach?

Individuals can be and often are held legally accountable for data breaches in various scenarios, including: Intentional unauthorised access: this includes hacking or accessing data without permission. Such actions can lead to criminal charges under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

Who is most likely to be accountable for the data breach?

The company's IT department can be held responsible for the occurrence of a data breach when they fail to maintain security standards. This can happen when they don't have adequate policies in place, or if they don't have enough staff members with IT experience.

Who is responsible for the breach?

Who is to blame for a breach? Determining who is to blame for a breach of PHI depends on the specific circumstances surrounding the incident. If the breach occurs due to the negligence or failure of a covered entity to implement and maintain appropriate safeguards, then the covered entity would be held responsible.

What is the leading cause of data breaches?

Although hacking attacks are frequently cited as the leading cause of data breaches, it's often the vulnerability of compromised or weak passwords or personal data that opportunistic hackers exploit. Statistics show that four out of five breaches are partially attributed to the use of weak or stolen passwords.

Data Breaches Explained

17 related questions found

What is the commonest reason for data security breaches?

Insider Threats Due to Misuse of Privileged Access. None of us want to believe that our trusted employees could stab us in the back, but the simple fact of the matter is that insiders are the most common cause of data breaches.

Are data breaches caused by human error?

The 2023 Thales Global Security Study of nearly 3,000 companies - found that at 55%, human error is still the leading cause of data breaches, with the exploitation of vulnerabilities being the next biggest cause ( 21%).

Who is legally liable for data breach?

If the breach involves a cyberattack in a traditional data owner's proprietary network & data center, the data owner is obviously potentially liable. State and federal data privacy laws in the U.S. do not impose civil liabilities in the event of a cyber intrusion.

Who is accountable for mishandled data?

Such breaches can encompass anything from accidentally forwarding sensitive information to unauthorized individuals to mishandling customer data. The key is recognizing when a breach has occurred and reporting it promptly. GDPR holds employees accountable for their actions related to data protection.

Who is to blame in the case of a breach of contract?

You need to sue the person or business who signed or entered into and then breached the contract. Generally, someone cannot sue a third party they do not have a contract with. Only the one who signed or entered into the agreement with you is responsible for the damages to you.

Who is ultimately responsible for data security?

Each company will have a designated team of individuals — usually including a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and an IT director — spearheading this initiative, but the reality is, all employees are responsible in some capacity for ensuring the security of their company's sensitive data.

Who is responsible for data breach notification?

All 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have laws requiring private businesses, and in most states, governmental entities as well, to notify individuals of security breaches of information involving personally identifiable information.

Where do most data breaches come from?

Data breaches are caused by: Innocent mistakes, such as an employee emailing confidential information to the wrong person. Malicious insiders, including angry or laid-off employees who want to hurt the company and greedy employees who want to profit off the company's data.

Who is accountable for data protection?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) integrates accountability as a principle which requires that organisations put in place appropriate technical and organisational measures and be able to demonstrate what they did and its effectiveness when requested.

Who prevents data breaches?

Data breach prevention is reliant on an organization having the right, up-to-date security tools and technologies in place. But it is also imperative for all employees within the organization to take a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity and know how to handle a data breach.

Who is responsible for data breach, controller or processor?

Who is liable to whom? A controller, or joint controller, is liable for both their own compliance with the GDPR, and the compliance of the chosen processor.

How to sue for a data breach?

A successful lawsuit depends on solid evidence. You'll need to gather documentation and records related to the data breach, such as: Notification letters: Many state laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) require companies to notify affected individuals when a breach occurs.

Who is responsible for data breaches in a company?

If so, the data breach responsibility may lie with the CEOs and company managers, and so these parties will be held accountable for their security failings. In a different set of circumstances, it could be that the chief information security officers are accountable for the incident.

Who is accountable for information security?

Top-level executives, including CEOs and board members, are ultimately accountable for establishing a culture of security within an organisation. They set the tone from the top, allocate resources for cybersecurity initiatives, and make strategic decisions regarding risk management.

Whose responsibility is it to report a data breach?

Part 3 of the DPA 2018 introduces a duty on all organisations to report certain types of personal data breach to the Information Commissioner. You must do this within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach, where feasible.

What are the three biggest data breaches of all time?

To start us off, I've made a list of the top 10 data breaches that have ever occurred up until now.
  1. 1. Yahoo – 3,000,000,000 records lost. ...
  2. National Public Data – 2,900,000,000 records lost. ...
  3. River City Media – 1,370,000,000 records lost. ...
  4. Aadhaar – 1,100,000,000 records lost.

Who or what should be held responsible when sensitive data is mishandled?

First, the individuals or entities that were supposed to protect the data are accountable for its mishandling. This includes businesses, organizations, and government bodies that store and process sensitive data.

Does 82% of data breaches involve a human element?

82% of all cyberattacks involve the human element. 78% of ransomware victims faced the consequences of one, two or three additional threats unless they paid the ransom.

What is the greatest cause for data breaches?

External cyber threats, like malware, phishing, and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, are top contenders in causing data breaches, allowing cybercriminals direct access to sensitive information.

What percentage of data breaches are caused by humans?

In fact, 74% of incidents include some human element, such as clicking on a phishing link. Whether it's a man-in-the-middle attack over Wi-Fi, a social engineering scam or something else, humans are inadvertently involved in most data breaches.