Pwned: How Often Are Americans' Online Accounts Breached?

TL;DR

This study estimates that over 82% of Americans have experienced online account breaches, with an average of at least three breaches per person, highlighting widespread digital security vulnerabilities.

Contribution

It provides the first large-scale, representative estimate of online account breaches among Americans using data from Have I Been Pwned.

Findings

Over 82% of Americans have had accounts breached.

Average person has at least three breached accounts.

Higher breach likelihood among better educated, middle-aged, women, and Whites.

Abstract

News about massive online breaches is increasingly common. But there has been little good data on how exposed people are because of these breaches. We combine data from a large, representative sample of adult Americans (n = 5,000) with data from \textit{Have I Been Pwned} to estimate the lower bound of the average number of breached online accounts per person. We find that at least 82.84% of Americans have had their accounts breached. And that on average Americans' accounts have been breached at least three times. Better educated, the middle-aged, women, and Whites are more likely to have had their accounts breached than the complementary groups.