What Is a Data Breach?
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What Is a Data Breach?
A data breach is an incident where sensitive, protected or confidential information is accessed, disclosed or stolen without authorisation. This can include customer records, financial details, login credentials, or internal business documents, and can happen through a deliberate attack or through simple human error, such as sending a file to the wrong recipient or leaving a database exposed to the internet.
Common Causes
- Weak or reused passwords that are easy to guess or already leaked from another breach.
- Phishing attacks that trick employees into revealing login credentials.
- Unpatched software containing known vulnerabilities attackers can exploit.
- Misconfigured cloud storage or databases left accessible without proper authentication.
- Insider threats from employees or contractors misusing legitimate access.
Reducing the Risk
Layered defences work best: multi-factor authentication so a leaked password alone isn't enough to break in, regular software patching to close known vulnerabilities, encrypting sensitive data both at rest and in transit, restricting employee access to only the data they need for their role, and maintaining tested backups so a breach doesn't also mean permanent data loss. Having an incident response plan in place — who to notify, how to contain the breach, and how to communicate with affected customers — significantly reduces the damage if a breach does occur.