Data breach
Definition
An incident in which an unauthorised party gains access to, copies, or discloses protected data. Breaches trigger specific legal notification requirements under laws such as GDPR (EU), state breach statutes (US), and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 (India).
Related terms
- Alert
- A notification generated when an event or pattern of events matches a detection rule. Alerts require triage to determine whether they represent...
- Insider threat
- An incident originating from a person with legitimate access to an organisation's systems, whether through malicious intent (data theft, sabotage) or negligence...
- Ransomware
- Malware that encrypts or exfiltrates data and demands payment for restoration or suppression. Modern ransomware incidents often combine an availability impact (encrypted...
- Security event
- Any observable occurrence in a system or network. Events are the raw material from which alerts and incidents are identified; the vast...
- Security incident
- An event or chain of events that violates an organisation's security policy or credibly threatens the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of information...
Explained in
- What Is a Security IncidentAn incident in which an unauthorised party gains access to, copies, or discloses protected data. Breaches trigger specific legal notification requirements unde...