Kroll 2026 Data Breach Outlook Report
Kroll Report: 69% of Orgs Breached in Past Year, Most via Third Parties
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Executive Summary
On October 22, 2026, the global risk and financial advisory firm Kroll released its 2026 Data Breach Outlook report, painting a stark picture of the current threat landscape. The report, based on a survey of 250 organizational leaders and data from Kroll's incident response engagements, found that 69% of organizations suffered a data breach in the past year. Furthermore, over a third (34%) experienced more than one breach. A key finding is the outsized impact of third-party breaches; incidents originating at technology vendors were responsible for affecting the vast majority of individuals whose data was compromised, underscoring the critical importance of supply chain security.
Report Details
The report's findings are based on survey data and analysis of incident response cases handled by Kroll between June 2025 and June 2026.
Key Statistics:
- Breach Frequency: 69% of organizations experienced a data breach in the last 12 months.
- Repeat Incidents: 34% of organizations were breached more than once in the same period.
- Third-Party Impact: Breaches at third-party organizations accounted for compromising 69% of all individuals affected in the incidents Kroll handled.
- Technology Sector Risk: Within that third-party group, breaches in the technology sector alone were responsible for 79% of the individuals impacted, highlighting the cascading effect of a single tech vendor compromise.
Sector Analysis:
While the financial services sector had the highest number of breached organizations in Kroll's caseload (20%), the impact per breach was lower than in the technology sector. This demonstrates that while financial firms are a frequent target, a compromise at a single, widely used technology provider can affect a much larger population of individuals across many different downstream companies.
Affected Organizations
The report's findings apply broadly across industries, but it specifically calls out the high frequency of breaches in financial services and the high impact of breaches in the technology sector. The survey respondents included leaders from various sectors such as financial services, technology, insurance, and healthcare.
Impact Assessment
The report highlights a critical disconnect in risk perception within corporate leadership. While over half (54%) of IT and technology leaders identified vendor and third-party breaches as their top compliance risk, this view was shared by only 40% of C-suite executives and 30% of risk and compliance leaders. This perception gap can lead to a misalignment of resources and priorities, leaving organizations underequipped to manage the growing threat of supply chain attacks.
The immense scale of individuals affected by third-party tech breaches underscores the systemic risk inherent in the digital ecosystem. A single point of failure at a major software or cloud provider can lead to a multi-organizational data breach event.
Compliance Guidance
The findings from the Kroll report strongly suggest that organizations need to mature their third-party risk management (TPRM) programs.
- Elevate TPRM to a C-Suite Priority: The perception gap must be closed. IT leaders need to effectively communicate the business impact of supply chain risk to executive leadership and the board to secure necessary budget and authority.
- Conduct Rigorous Vendor Due Diligence: Go beyond simple questionnaires. Conduct in-depth security assessments of critical vendors, including penetration testing, architectural reviews, and validation of their security controls.
- Implement Contractual Safeguards: Ensure contracts with third parties include strong security requirements, breach notification clauses with specific timelines, and the right to audit.
- Continuous Monitoring: Third-party risk is not a point-in-time assessment. Implement tools and processes for continuous monitoring of your vendors' security posture, looking for signs of compromise or degradation in their controls.
- Develop a Third-Party Incident Response Plan: Have a specific plan ready for how your organization will respond when a critical vendor suffers a breach. This should include communication plans, data analysis procedures, and legal considerations.
Timeline of Events
MITRE ATT&CK Mitigations
Vulnerability Scanning
While not directly a mitigation, this represents the broader concept of assessing the security posture of third parties, a key theme of the report.
Pre-compromise
Focusing on proactive measures like vendor due diligence and contractual requirements before a compromise occurs.
Timeline of Events
Kroll releases its 2026 Data Breach Outlook report.
Sources & References
Article Author
Jason Gomes
• Cybersecurity PractitionerCybersecurity professional with over 10 years of specialized experience in security operations, threat intelligence, incident response, and security automation. Expertise spans SOAR/XSOAR orchestration, threat intelligence platforms, SIEM/UEBA analytics, and building cyber fusion centers. Background includes technical enablement, solution architecture for enterprise and government clients, and implementing security automation workflows across IR, TIP, and SOC use cases.
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