Surge in UK corporate data leaks fuels fraud fears
Most corporate data leaks now involve sensitive financial and HR records, warns major cybersecurity study.
Cybersecurity experts in London have warned of a sharp increase in corporate data breaches, with leaked files now frequently containing sensitive financial and personal records.
A new report by Lab 1 reveals that 93 percent of such breaches involve documents like invoices, IBANs, and bank statements, fuelling widespread fraud and reputational damage in the UK.
The study examined 141 million leaked files and shows how hackers increasingly target unstructured data such as HR records, emails, and internal code.
Often ignored in standard breach reviews, these files contain rich details that can be used for identity theft or follow-up cyberattacks.
Hackers are now behaving more like data scientists, according to Lab 1’s CEO, mining leaks for valuable information to exploit. The average breach now affects over 400 organisations indirectly, including business partners and vendors, significantly widening the fallout.
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