- 2.2 million British accounts have been broken in the first three months of 2025 alone
- The United Kingdom was the sixth most affected country all over the world behind the United States, Russia, India, Germany and Spain
- Despite this, the latest data shows a significant click in data violation events all over the world
An average of 17 British accounts was violated every minute of 2025 so far, a total of 2.2 million accounts leaked in the UK in the first three months of the year. This toll makes the United Kingdom the sixth country most affected around the world after the United States, Russia, India, Germany and Spain.
These are the most important finds that come from Surfshark’s quarterly update on its global data violation analysis.
Nevertheless, experts report a significant click in data that violates incidents around the world compared to last year’s wave. In the UK, data violations fell so far by 49% compared to the last three months of 2024.
Globally, the latest data shows a staggering decrease of 93%passing from a total of 973.7 million to 68.3 million leaked accounts.
“Although the number of vulnerable accounts in all major regions fell in the Q1 2025 compared to the previous quarter, people had to remain vigilant,” said Luís Costa, research line at Surfshark.
Surfshark has registered a total of 1.2B personal items postponed in the UK since 2004. This includes 79.2 million unique E emails and 238.4 million passwords.
However, the United States was the most affected nation globally with 16.9 million accounts violated by 2025 so far. Russia comes with 4.4 million, then India (4.2 million), Germany (3.9 million) and Spain (2.4 million). France (2.1 million), Canada (0.89 million), Argentina (0.79 million) and South Sudan (0.73 million) are also among the ten most violated countries in the first three months of 2025.
How To Protect Your Data Against Violations
Despite the global downturn, data violations and cyberattacks do not seem to disappear anytime soon.
This is why, whether you are based in the UK or another targeted country, take some steps to secure your online data against this threat.
“Cyberhreats continue to evolve and attackers are constantly adapting their tactics,” Costa said.
Then he suggests to follow strong security practices at all times and regularly update your passwords. A password administrator tool is very convenient to help you find unique combinations and keep you on top of the security of your accounts with a few clicks.
Costa also recommends activating 2FA by adding another layer of security to your account by requiring another verification in addition to your password only. This means that even if your password is leaked, your account should remain secure.
You also need to be vigilant when you are online so as not to become a victim of phishing fraud. While a couple of virtual private networks (VPN) tools and secure E email services boast of features that help you keep you away from these dangers, it is to refrain from clicking Dodgy Links the best way to stay in security.
