Breachesin the banking/financial/credit category fell by almost 59% sofar this year, but breach incidents overall are on a record-settingpace, according to the San Diego-based Identity Theft ResourceCenter.

As of September 20, the total number of breaches captured in theITRC 2016 Breach Report now totals 687, an increase of nearly 16%over last year's record pace for the same period (594). Thisrepresents almost 29 million exposed records so far this year inthe U.S.

Year-over-year, breaches in the education sector are up 34.7%over 2015 figures, followed by the business sector, up 24.1.6%, andthe medical/healthcare field up 22.1%. The government/militarysector, with 49 breaches, reflects an increase of 16.7% compared to2015 figures, while the banking/financial/credit category remainsdown 58.6%.

With 30 breaches recorded over the two weeks prior to Sept. 20,the five industry sectors break down as follows:

• Business = 43.5%
• Medical/Healthcare = 36.2%
• Educational = 9.6 %
• Government/Military = 7.1%
• Banking/Credit/Financial = 3.5%

The ITRC Breach database updates on a daily basis based on reportedincidents, and posts to its website each Tuesday.

Meanwhile, internationally there were more than 554 milliondata-records breached, with identity theft the most commonly usedmethod, according to Dutch-based Gemalto's Breach Level Index. The970 data breaches reported worldwide in the first half of 2016represent an increase of 15% from the previous six months,

Some 79% of the reported incidents were in North America, while9% were in Europe, and 8% in the Asia-Pacific region.

Michael Patterson, founder and CEO of cybersecurity firmKennebunk, Maine-based Plixer, said, “Anything entered into a computer that isconnected to the Internet can be hacked. I fear that many of us arebecoming apathetic to news of these electronic thefts.”

Patterson explained people may not care now, but when somethinglike personal medical records start getting altered, concerns willrise because of the problems caused. “Imagine trying to getinsurance and being rejected because someone entered bogusinformation that you smoke, drink excessively, suffer from chronicback issues, et cetra. Having our personal information stolen isnot good. Having it altered could be a bigger problem.”