ODPA releases fourth quarter breach statistics

The Office of the Data Protection Authority (“ODPA”) has published its latest breach statistics.

Every quarter the ODPA shares insights from recent breach data towards elevating breach preparedness for public and private sector organisations.

From 1 October-31 December 2024, there were a total of 33 reported personal data breaches, seven fewer than in the previous quarter.

These breaches affected 4,914 people, up from the previous quarterly figure of 2,837. However, fewer people (187, down from 517) were affected by ‘high risk’ breaches.

Case study: 

One breach reported to the Authority during the last quarter related to a USB storage device containing personal data falling out of an employee’s pocket and being found by a member of the public.

Fortunately, the information stored on the device was deemed low risk to any individuals identifiable.

Nonetheless, this serves as an important reminder that where the use of external storage media is considered necessary, the device should be appropriately encrypted and password protected to minimise the risk of unauthorised access. 

General guidance on how to handle a data breach can be found at Handling Data Breaches · ODPA.