The Identity Theft Resource Center counted 1,803 reported data compromises and roughly 471 million victim notices in the first half of 2026, putting the year on pace to surpass last year’s totals.
The nonprofit, which tracks publicly reported breaches and assists identity‑theft victims, noted a single education‑technology incident accounted for about 275 million notices.
“We continue to see this ever‑increasing number of data breaches,” said James Lee, president of the Identity Theft Resource Center, in the report.
A separate IBM analysis cited in the coverage found about one in four breaches between March 2025 and February 2026 was AI‑enabled, a 56% increase year over year from the report.
The ITRC also flagged a rise in malicious insider events, recording 21 such incidents in the first half of 2026 and warning some attacks stem from a remote‑worker hiring scam flagged by the FBI that uses deepfakes and stolen identities in the report.
Recent, varied incidents include an NHS disclosure where transplant‑patient records were sent over an unencrypted pager network, and a vendor breach that potentially exposed European Steam customers’ order information vendor compromise.
If the second half of 2026 is equally active, the year will eclipse the 3,321 security incidents reported for all of 2025.
