The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) has revealed that 662 data breaches were reported in the U.S. in 2010, up about 33 percent from 2009. Infosecurity reports that the number of actual breaches is likely higher since not all breaches are required to be reported. The ITRC says that 62 percent of the breaches involved Social Security numbers and 26 percent involved payment card information. In a press release, ITRC notes a lack of transparency in reporting. "Other than breaches reported by the media and a few progressive state Web sites, there is little or no information available on many data breach events. It is clear that without a mandatory national reporting requirement that many data breaches will continue to be unreported or underreported."
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