There is probably more information stored on your computer than you realize. Your bank details, address, and date of birth have all been inputted into a computer at some point in your life. As scary as it may sound, this information presents a number of opportunities for hackers.

There are numerous ways you can stay safe online, creating strong unique passwords, using a 

, and installing antivirus software can help you feel secure when you’re browsing the internet.

However, this may not stop hackers from trying to get your valuable information. Employees and employers are targeted every day, all around the world. That’s why, here at Proxyrack, we wanted to find out the average cost of a data breach.

As well as looking at which countries experience the most data breaches, we’ve looked at the average cost of a data breach in countries and industries, as well as how the cost is affected by the number of remote workers to show you the financial damage these data breaches can cause.

The Countries Losing The Most Money to Data Breaches

Data breaches happen all over the world. That’s why we wanted to find where in the world they were the most costly.

1. United States - $9 million average cost of a data breach

Data breaches in the United States were the most expensive, with an average cost of $9 million. Data breaches in the US cost just over $2 million more than any other country on our list.

2. Middle East - $6.93 million average cost of a data breach

Data breaches in the Middle East are the second most costly in our list. A data breach here costs, on average, $6.93 million. The Middle East is made up of a number of different countries, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

3. Canada - $5.4 million average cost of a data breach

Canada completes our top three with the average cost of a data breach costing $5.4 million. Canada’s average cost of a data breach has increased by $900,000 since 2020, which is the equivalent of 20%.

The Industries Losing The Most Money to Data Breaches

For hackers, some industries will be more lucrative than others. So we found out which industries had the highest cost of a data breach.

1. Healthcare - $9.23 million average cost of a data breach

Data breaches in the healthcare industry were the most expensive with an average cost of $9.23 million. A data breach in the healthcare industry was almost $4 million more expensive than any other industry.

2. Financial - $5.72 million average cost of a data breach

The financial industry was the second most expensive, with the average cost of a data breach costing $5.72 million. The average cost of a data breach has actually decreased since 2020, going from $5.85 million to $5.72 million.

3. Pharmaceuticals - $5.04 million average cost of a data breach

Data breaches in the pharmaceutical industry complete our top three, with the average cost of a data breach sitting at just over $5 million. The average cost of a pharmaceutical data breach has narrowly decreased since 2020 when it was $5.06 million.

The Effects of Remote Working on Data Breaches

With more and more employees choosing to work from home, we wanted to find out how the percentage of remote employees affects the cost of a data breach.

Data breaches to companies with the highest percentage of remote employees were the most costly in 2021. For companies with 81% to 100% of remote employees, the average cost of a data breach was just over $5.5 million.

Companies with 61% to 80% of remote employees experienced the second-highest cost of a data breach. Between this range, the average cost of a data breach was just under $4.4 million.

At the other end of the spectrum, companies with just 10% to 20% of remote workers experienced the third-highest average data breach cost. Between 10% and 20%, data breaches cost, on average, $4.21 million.

The Countries Most Commonly Targeted by Data Breaches

1. United States - 7,221,177 breaches per 1 million people

The United States takes first place with over seven million breaches per million people. A total of 2.4 billion breaches have happened in the US, with 30 million happening in 2022, and 452 million happening in the last three years.

2. France - 6,488,574 breaches per 1 million people

In second place is France, with almost 6.5 million breaches per million people. France had a total of 419 million data breaches, almost 16 million of these came in 2022, with 66 million of France’s total coming in the last three years.

3. South Sudan - 6,184,061 breaches per 1 million people

Completing our top three is South Sudan with over 6 million breaches per 1 million people. South Sudan had almost 67.5 million breaches in total, with 10 million of these coming in the last three years. 1 million of these came in 2022 alone.

’ to find out the average cost of a data breach for countries, industries, and the percentage of remote workers.

 to find out the total number of breaches for each country. This data was accurate from 07.11.2022.

To calculate the breaches per 1 million people, we used 

 to get the population. Countries with fewer than 1 million people were removed.

Cost of a Data Breach

Data breaches happen every year, and they can affect some of the biggest companies in the world. Not only can they expose sensitive information, but they can also have huge financial implications. The ripple effect that these breaches can cause could put you at risk.

Here at Proxyrack, we know a thing or two about network security with our 

That’s why we’ve looked into the most costly data breaches, the most common methods, and the companies with the most data breaches.

We’ve looked at data breaches since 2004 where more than 30,000 records were stolen or compromised.

Web-based industries have been the most targeted since 2004, with 53 data breaches to companies. Web industries potentially hold large amounts of sensitive data and information, which makes it no surprise that these are the most targeted.

Healthcare industries were the second most common industry targeted by hackers, with 47 data breaches. There were four data breaches to healthcare companies in 2021, with Apple Health Medicaid and Health Service Executive among the four which were hacked.

Completing our top three is the financial industry which has suffered 38 data breaches since 2004. With finance companies holding information regarding bank accounts, there is no surprise that these are in the top three for most targeted industries.

You’d hope that after the first hack, companies would strengthen their online protection to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Unfortunately for some companies, that’s not quite worked out. We’ve discovered which companies have received the most data breaches since 2004.

Facebook has had the most data breaches since 2004 with a total of five, two more than any other company. Three of the five data breaches Facebook experienced were in 2019, with the other two in 2018 and 2013. Facebook's most recent hack was their most costly with 540 million records either stolen or compromised. Poor security was the social networking site’s main problem, causing three of its data breaches.

AOL take second place with three hacks since 2004. A total of 114.4 million records were stolen or compromised during the three hacks AOL suffered, which happened in 2004, 2006 and 2014. All three data breaches were through different methods. In 2004, it was an inside job that caused what was also their most costly breach, with 92 million records stolen or compromised. In 2006, 20 million records were accidentally published and in 2014 it was a hacking that caused 2.4 million records to be stolen or compromised.

Also, with three hacks since 2004 is Citigroup who were hacked in 2005, 2011, and 2013. The data breaches to the finance company weren’t as severe as second place, with just over 4.4 million records stolen or compromised. The methods used were lost/stolen media, hacking, and poor security, with poor security being the most recent method.

There are a number of ways in which hackers try and steal data from companies. We’ve looked at the most common methods that are used.

The most common cause of data breaches is hacking, which has occurred 193 times since 2004. Whether it’s through password abuse, or tempting you to click on a fake link, there are a number of ways that a hacker can hack someone.

Poor security was the second most common way people gained unauthorized access to sensitive information, happening on 44 occasions since 2004. This shows just how important it can be to invest in internet security.

Completing our top three is lost or stolen media which was the third most common data breach method, happening 33 times since 2004. The most recent hack of this kind happened in 2017 to Advocate Medical Group where 4 million records were stolen.

We’ve looked at which data breaches have been the most costly to the companies that were hacked.

The most expensive data breach was the hack of Epsilon which cost the company a huge $4 billion. The marketing company’s hack was huge, where the names and addresses of 60 million people were stolen after the email system was breached.

Our second most costly breach was Equifax, which caused damages of $700 million. Equifax is a finance company which offers credit monitoring services for free. When it was hacked, the private information of 160 million accounts was exposed, and Wall Street lowered the company’s valuation by $4 billion.

3. US Office of Personnel Management - $500 million

Our third most costly data breach was the US Office of Personnel Management, which cost the company $500 million. OPM deals with personal data for millions of employees, and when they were hacked, the information of 4 million employees was compromised. The hack happened whilst updating their security.

 to discover the most targeted industries and companies, as well as the most common methods of data breaches.

  to find out the most costly data breaches.

Exposed Industries

Credential stuffing is where malicious users acquire a list of previously hacked usernames and passwords (or hashed passwords) from a website and then attempt to login on another website using the same credentials. This often works because regular users use the same password across many domains.

We have developed propriety technology to detect this exact kind of behaviour and quickly block access to the target website.

This user then re-enters our compliance department where we analyse his requests and directly talk to user about their suspicious activity and only then re-enable access once we are certain their behaviour is ethical.

How we actively prevent credential stuffing

Anti-credential stuffing technology

Here is a personal account of how I used the proxies from Proxyrack to scale my digital marketing business as a freelancer.

The first time I stumbled upon the term ‘proxy server,’ I wondered what it was and what I could do with it as a freelancer. I am not much of a technical person, and I wouldn't say I like wrapping my head around technical stuff, but I decided to look up what proxies are and what I can do with proxies as a freelancer, and before long, I got hooked onto proxies as a means of scaling my freelancing business. 

Here is the story of my foray with proxies.

What Are Proxies, And How Did I Stumble Upon Proxies?

I heard a fellow freelancer talk about using proxies to collect data, do SEO research, carry out cross-border online shopping, test ads, etc. I knew pretty well that I had been left behind in the scheme of things; that probably was the reason business was progressing at a snail speed. Now, I will take you through my journey with proxies (I will use proxy/proxy servers interchangeably).

A proxy is a computer or network of computers that serve as a gateway between you and the internet. Rather than access the internet directly with my PC or mobile device, I can do so through a proxy server. Think of a proxy server as a post office that receives a letter on your behalf and delivers it to your doorstep, or receive a letter from you and delivers it to your destination.

If I choose to connect to a proxy server, the following happens:

If that’s all a proxy does, why not access the internet without it and continue my freelancing business the old way I am used to?

Asides from forwarding and receiving data requests, proxy servers filter my web traffic and prevent the bad stuff on the internet from reaching me. It also speeds up my internet experience using its data caching system, helps me access websites and services not possible to access from my location, and much more. 

How Proxies From Proxyrack Have Helped Me? 

As a freelance digital marketer, proxy servers have been helpful to me in the following ways.

Imagine having to sit at the computer for hours and manually sieve through thousands of adverts, or collect product reviews, email addresses, phone numbers, etc.; most times, it is always a futile effort due to the small volume of data I can collect manually. 

Thankfully, using a data scraping bot with a proxy address, I can collect as much data as I want, neatly organized into excel or CSV format in a fraction of time.

2. For creating multiple email address and social media accounts

As a freelance digital marketer, multiple emails and social media accounts are essential to reach large audiences through email or social media outreaches; yet without a proxy server, I am limited to having a maximum of five email or social media accounts, 

Take, for instance, I can only create a maximum of five Facebook accounts without a proxy server, but with proxies, I can create as many accounts as possible, and using bots makes the process a whole lot faster, easier and automated.

Ads enable you to reach out to new audiences with your products or services. I use proxies to monitor targeted ads and ensure that my ads display correctly to the right audiences, reduce the likelihood of fraudulent ad placements, and monitor ad views and engagements.

Bots contribute to the success of my freelance digital marketing business; they are essential in automating processes, data scraping, web scraping, multiple account creation, social media automation, affiliate link, price aggregation, etc. Although bots are valuable for business, they cannot function properly without proxies due to anti-bot measures on some websites. 

I still rely on bots and proxies for successful shopping when it's time to shop. With reliable proxies, I can automate my shopping experience, buy some of those high-valued limited-edition sneakers as soon as it is available, open multiple buyer/seller accounts, bypass geo-restrictions intended to stop me from shopping on some eCommerce platforms, and remain anonymous.

6. For security, privacy, and brand protection

As a freelance digital marketer, I rely on proxies to protect me from cybersecurity risks, keep my data and my devices safe, and protect my business, brand, and privacy by making me an anonymous user while online.

SEO is what makes me successful as a freelancer. I use search engines to scrape accurate data for keyword research, monitoring competitors, ranking levels, content, site auditing, campaign monitoring, and any other types of information relevant to my business success. None of these will be possible without making use of premium proxies.

As a digital marketing freelancer, I need multiple social media and youtube accounts, yet having more than five accounts will result in a ban. Proxies are my only hope for having multiple social media accounts because proxies automatically change my IP address per each social media account I log in on my device. 

With proxies, I can also use bots to automate my social media accounts for automated postings, comments, likes, follows, etc.; It also allows me to use geo-targeting technology to target specific countries or regions with tailored ads, bypass censorships, and scale up my audiences.

As a digital marketer, I use proxies to test my client's website to ensure that their web content displays rightly to audiences across different geographical regions. So, with proxies, I access the website like my clients would wherever they are in the world.

What Are The Best Proxies For A Freelance Digital Marketer?

Like every other newbie, I have had my fair share of bitter experiences, especially with proxies, until I stumbled across ProxyRack proxies, and that brought my nightmare with proxies to an end. Asides from the above-listed proxy functionalities that have helped in scaling my business as a freelance digital marketer, proxies have played useful purposes such as video streaming, P2P communication, traffic filtering, and much more. 

So far, I rely only on premium proxies from ProxyRack, because they offer me an extensive network of over 2 million premium proxies sourced worldwide. 

Start your journey today by using Proxyrack.

Case Study of how a freelance digital marketer used proxies from Proxyrack to scale his business

How I Used Proxyrack To Scale My Freelance Digital Marketing Business [Case Study]

The year 2020 was a tough one for Americans. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of businesses faced a financial crisis. This translated into a massive wave of lay-offs all over the country. And while things seem to be 

, there is still a long way to go. In the current economy, the competition for positions is fierce. That’s why, if you lost your job during the pandemic, you have to step up your game.

Knowing what to do when faced with unemployment is vital. The decisions you make during this time are going to determine, to an extent, how fast you will get out of the rough patch. First of all, don’t get discouraged. Instead, think about following these steps:

Don’t trivialize what happened. Losing your job can be a destabilizing thing, and you have the right to mourn that part of your life, and what it meant to your life. Change is hard and equally necessary.

But don’t just stick to the negative. Try to be grateful for what this experience gave you. You earned a living, you learned things, you advanced. Let go of the negative and focus on the good. Maybe you’re a little skeptical of this, but a positive outlook will sustain you when things get hard. Realize that you’re more than your job and that you have a life outside of it.

Think that this is temporary. As much as you feel like it’s the end of the 

, it isn’t. The truth is that you will find another job, and will advance towards the future. Your current situation is not eternal. Internalize that knowledge, and it will fuel your search when you lose your drive.

Keep learning about things that interest you, whether they’re directly related to your career or not. Continued education will make you more competitive, and developing 

In expanding your knowledge, maybe you will find a new passion, and possibly a new career path. It will also keep you active and challenged when things get hard or you feel understimulated.

Nowadays, there are a million ways to acquire new skills, and, for many of them, you won’t have to pay thousands of dollars. You can read books, listen to people you admire, enroll in 

…The Internet is your best friend. Find something you like, and dive into it with passion.

By continuously updating your skillset, and acquiring new experience, you might find a new path. This will allow you to expand the spectrum of your work search, and open opportunities you had not considered.

When looking for a job, it is consistency that makes the difference. It’s important to tap into all the resources you have. Start applying for jobs online. Use all the job search engines you can find, and check them constantly. It’s helpful to set up specific times to do this, as it will give you a routine and structure your search.

At the same time, let people know that you’re looking for employment. Reach out to your network and talk about your search and your skills. Ask colleagues and people in your industry to keep an eye out for opportunities and let you know. Do not disregard anyone, as you don’t know where a lead can come from. Keeping an open mind to opportunities will help you.

You should treat your job search like a job itself. Be organized, constant, and creative in your endeavor. If you’re interested in a position, try it out. Send your resume, even if you don’t meet all the criteria; don’t put limitations on yourself that aren’t there.

You are the person who will determine how your job search is going to go. When you are hired is out of your control, but the process in the meantime isn’t. Focus your energy on building your future, and give it your best. Do all you can, with the certainty that things will work themselves out, because they will. You have done this before, and you will again. Work smart, be patient, and you will see the results you want.

Turn Unemployment Into Opportunity

Are you looking for reliable Canadian IP addresses? Search no further as you can get the best from ProxyRack Canada Rotating Datacenter Proxies.

The ProxyRack Canadian rotating service gives you access to over 6,000 unique Canadian IP addresses. As datacenter proxies with rotating IPs, the service is very fast and reliable. Furthermore, it supports 

, HTTPS, SOCKS4, SOCKS4A, and SOCKS5 protocols.

Features of ProxyRack Canada Rotating Datacenter Proxies

With rotating IPs, you can switch between different IP addresses and avoid getting detected by websites you visit. You can switch to sticky IPs too by white-listing.

ProxyRack Canadian rotating datacenter proxies feature different IP addresses from different ASNs. The result is a very fast browsing speed.

You can whitelist specific IP addresses giving them exclusive access to specific networks and websites.

For security, you can authenticate proxies using usernames and passwords. This can serve as an ideal alternative to white-listing

No monthly data transfer limitations are associated with using the ProxyRack Canadian rotating service.

All of the ProxyRack Canadian rotating IP addresses feature private exit nodes. They are not public in any way.

Unlike other proxy providers, you are not limited to a particular proxy pool. With the ProxyRack Canadian rotating service, you get access to all the thousands of Canadian IP addresses.

What You Can Do With ProxyRack Canada Rotating Datacenter Proxies?

There are lots of things you can do with ProxyRack 

If you don’t reside in Canada, you can make use of these Canadian IPs to access Canadian-only websites.

You can make use of these proxies to anonymously scrape data off any website. Your true IP address is hidden and you are secure from being detected or blocked as the IPs rotate.

ProxyRack Canadian rotating datacenter proxies are reliable for accessing Canadian sneaker websites to shop. The sneaker websites won’t know you’re not in Canada and you’ll access shopping deals that only Canadian residents would.

These Canadian rotating proxies are very fast which makes them ideal for gaming. You enjoy fast speed, reduce lag time and you can play geo-targeted games.

How To Get ProxyRack Canada Rotating Datacenter Proxies

You can purchase ProxyRack Canadian rotating datacenter proxies at very affordable rates. Check them below:

: The difference between the three plans is the number of threads. For all plans, you get access to over 6,000 Canadian IPs and unmetered monthly transfers. Also, you can geo-target Canadian cities.

ProxyRack boasts of over 3,000 happy customers. You can be next by purchasing the 

For a simple flat fee, you get to access all the proxies and you don’t have to worry about tasks with huge bandwidth requirements as the bandwidth is unmetered.

Canada Datacenter Proxies Product Launch

Deals expire at midnight PST (California time) Friday 27th November

These products are already 10% off and the prices below are another 50% off these:

Deal 2: 50% Off Our Top Tier Monthly Subscriptions

For our larger users, take advantage of massive savings on our highest bandwidth products

Deal 3: $1 For Our 3 Day Trial Of All Proxy Products (normally $13.95)

For first time users, try all of our proxy products to find the one that suits you best

Black Friday Deals

This video gives a quick demonstration on how the Megaproxy service works with the latest version of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDCaBSFPKks

Megaproxy Demonstration with Scrapebox in 2019

We’ve been working hard in the background improving the service and increasing available bandwidth for all customers.

I’m pleased to announce that we have two feature upgrades you would have already noticed in your members area for the past month or so.

Previously there was no way to see how many connections you were making in your account.

Now you can view up to the last 60 minutes of your requests broken down by each minute.

Before the only rotating interval for you was either the “random new IP on each connection” or the “10 minute rotating ports”.

We’re pleased to also announce you can set! your own interval now

This ranges from 3 minutes – 30 minutes allowing you to complete a larger or small sequence before your IPs change in our backend.

If you have any questions on these new features please feel free to contact support and we’ll gladly assist you with your enquires.

New Product Features 13 March 2018

Ever had problems with slow downloads? Or buffering while watching Netflix? Due to the proliferation of data heavy websites, having an internet connection that offers high download speeds is more important than ever.

While there are plenty of internet service providers, such as Google and Verizon, that offer incredibly quick speeds, Nokia has just made an announcement that could blow them both out of the water.

In a recent report, Nokia announced that it is working on a way to deliver internet speeds at a jaw dropping 1Tbps. They are planning to offer this through a newly developed technique called Probabilistic Constellation Shaping.

Nokia Bell Labs claim to have already achieved these speeds in a real world setting and that its breakthrough will “allow operators and enterprises to improve the distance and capacity of high-speed data transmissions.”

If this technology becomes widely adopted it would be significantly faster than anything else around at the moment. For example, Google Fiber offers 1Gbps data in a limited number of cities, while Verizon Fios offers a service at a still very impressive 500Mbps.

The service Nokia are claiming to have invented would be 1,000 times faster than Google Fiber. This is basically the same as the difference between Verizon Fios and your old dial-up connection.

While no one is sure when or even if Nokia will roll out this product, what is certain is that should they release internet at these speeds, you would have absolutely no problems streaming 