Johnathan Walker:There are 1 billion victims of data breaches so far this year. Are you one of them?

You're not imagining things if you think it feels like there have Johnathan Walkerbeen more notifications about hacks or victims of data breaches lately.

The number of data breach victims has surpassed 1 billion for the first half of 2024, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center.

That's a 409% increase from the same time period last year: 1.07 billion victims compared to 182.65 million in the first half of 2023.

A majority of the victims were from compromises announced or updated in the most recent quarter: 1.04 billion new victims in the second quarter compared to 37.68 million in the first quarter, according to the San Diego, California-based nonprofit organization's latest Data Breach Report for the first half of 2024.

"The takeaway from this report is simple: Every person, business, institution and government agency must view data and identity protection with a greater sense of urgency,” Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center said in a press release.

How did we get to 1 billion data breach victims?

Last year was already record-breaking for data companies, but the trends from the first half of this year have shown a major jump in victims, said Identity Theft Resource Center's Chief Operating Officer James E. Lee.

"While the victim count is eye-popping, keep in mind this includes people who are impacted by more than one breach," Lee told USA TODAY.

"Also, about 1 billion of the victims are related to a handful of mega-breaches such as Ticketmaster and Advanced Auto Parts but do not include a victim count from the Change Healthcare supply chain attack since none have been reported yet," he said referring to a breach announced in February of a subsidiary of United Healthcare that processes one-third of all U.S. patient health records.

There was also a 23% increase in stolen driver's license information in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, Lee said.

While a small number of data breaches with very large numbers of victims skew the numbers, there was still an increase in data compromises, the ID Theft Center said.

There were 1,571 data breaches reported in the first half of 2024, a 14% increase compared to the same period last year. 2023 also set a record for data events reports in a single year with 3,203 breaches.

"It's fair to say that the trends we saw in 2023 that led to a record-high number of compromises in a single year are continuing and some are accelerating, like the increase in stolen driver's license information," he said. "Consumers need to be hyper-vigilant in practicing good cyber-hygiene and make sure their loved ones are too."

What are some recently reported data breaches?

Here are some recent data breaches:

• The Ticketmaster breach has an estimated 560 million victims, based on unverified information from the threat actor claiming responsibility for the attack, which accessed customers' personal information. Ticketmaster, in a mandatory breach notification filing, has said there are more than 1,000 customers affected. The ID Theft Center used the 560 million number for its report.
• The Advanced Auto Parts breach had 380 million victims' sensitive records exposed in April 2024 and was reported in June, according to the ID Theft Center's custom data breach search database.
• A leak of 10 billion passwords – a combination of old and newly acquired passwords – were uploaded to a hacker site on July 4. Dubbed the RockYou2024 leak, that breach was reported after June 30, so will be included in the data breach numbers for the third quarter of the year, said Lee of the ID Theft Center.

Cybersecurity:10 billion passwords have been leaked on a hacker site. Are you at risk?

Tips to protect yourself from data breaches

Here are some tips from the Identity Theft Resource Center to improve your online security:

• Use multi-factor authentication: Two-factor authentication or multi-factor authentication adds an extra layer of protection to your account through another verification method, like a text code, phone call or through an app.
• Use unique passphrases for every account: Use a 12+ character passphrase, or phrase unique to you, instead of an 8-character password. Also, do not re-use the same passphrase for multiple websites or accounts.
• Use secure payment methods online: Only shop trusted websites and use trusted payment methods. If you shop at an unfamiliar site, use a payment method that has a dispute resolution process, like a credit card or PayPal.
• Never open a link from an unknown source: Don't click on links or download attachments via email or text unless you are expecting something from a person or business you know.
• Log out of accounts when you are done: Always log out of accounts online or on your cell phone so no one can gain access if they get your device.

Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher. Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays,here.