cybersecurity as it identifies common trends related to cyber-attacks and online activity. Through public information, researchers and cybersecurity specialists can identify vulnerabilities and which individuals and organizations may be primarily targeted by cybercriminals. The data may be an inaccurate representation of the frequency in which certain cybercrimes are committed due to the limiting factor of not every data breach being reported or made known to the public. At the same time, this data is by no means perfect. It still allows researchers to generalize trends regarding cyber-attacks. While researchers must be careful not to generalize cybercrimes based on potentially inaccurate data, the data still serves to increase awareness and preparedness in cybersecurity.

Source: https://privacyrights.org/data-breaches