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Few breaches lead to identity theft, GAO finds

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Although data breaches in the public and private sectors are frequent, few incidents of identity theft have occurred as a result of the loss or unauthorized exposure of personal information, the Government Accountability Office said.

Fortunately for potential victims, only three of the 24 biggest breaches that GAO reviewed led to detected incidents of fraud on existing accounts and one incident of the unauthorized creation of a new account, according to GAO’s analysis of available data and interviews with researchers, law enforcement officials and industry representatives.

Retailers and a credit card processor were responsible for the data breaches that led to identity theft. GAO said it uncovered no clear evidence of fraud in 18 incidents, and insufficient data was available to make a determination in two incidents. However, it is difficult to know for certain the magnitude of identity theft, GAO said.

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