HIPAA Breach Analysis

Exploring 15 years of healthcare data breaches reported to the HHS Office for Civil Rights. Understanding patterns, trends, and the evolving threat landscape.

Total Breaches

Individuals Affected

This is a naive sum across all reported breaches. The actual number of unique individuals is likely lower, as the same person's data may have been compromised in multiple incidents.

Hacking/IT Incidents

Years of Data

Visualizations

1. The Digital Transformation

How breach types and attack vectors have shifted from physical theft to network-based hacking over 15 years.

2. The Power Law

The extreme concentration of impact: a handful of mega-breaches account for the majority of individuals affected.

3. Business Associate Risk

Third-party vendors as a growing attack vector: are supply chain breaches becoming more common and more severe?

4. Geographic Distribution

Breach intensity by state, both raw counts and population-normalized rates reveal surprising patterns.

Data Source: HHS Office for Civil Rights Breach Portal
Date Range: October 2009 - February 2026
Last Updated: March 2026