Data Breach Analysis Repository

This repository contains data, code, and documentation for analyzing data breaches reported to state Attorneys General across the United States.

Repository Contents

Documentation

• 1.Online_Appendix.pdf - Supplementary appendices referenced in the paper.
• 3.tf_raw_to_R_Supp.docx - Documentation of the manual transformation process from raw data to usable CSV files, including assumptions made for special entries.

Data

• 2.raw_datasets_Supp - Raw datasets in PDF or Excel format extracted from state Attorneys General websites.
• 4.data_put_in_R_Supp - Edited data in CSV format used for R processing.
• 6.elig_breaches_Supp.csv - Eligible observations used in the modeling stage, containing fields:
  • Name.of.Company
  • Date.of.Breach (start date)
  • Reported.Date
  • state
  • State.Residents.Affected
• 8.qtr_upper_triangles_data_Supp.csv - Upper triangles (actual data) for statistical analysis.
• 11.qtr_matrices_data_Supp.csv - Matrices containing upper triangles (actual data) and lower triangles (filled with zeros).

Code

• 5.data_processing_in_R_Supp.Rmd - R markdown that processes the edited data and outputs eligible observations for modeling.
• 7.qtr_upper_triangles_code_Supp.Rmd - Creates upper triangles from eligible breach data.
• 9.gam_and_diagnostics_Supp.Rmd - Outputs the final Generalized Additive Model (GAM) and produces model diagnostics (heatmaps).
• 10.qtr_matrices_code_Supp.Rmd - Creates matrices with upper triangles (actual data) and lower triangles (filled with zeros).
• 12.graphs_Supp.Rmd - Produces all graphs shown in the paper.

Data Flow

1. Raw data is extracted from state Attorneys General websites (Item 2)
2. Raw data is manually transformed into usable CSV files (Item 3 → Item 4)
3. CSV files are processed in R to extract eligible observations (Item 5 → Item 6)
4. Upper triangles are created from eligible breach data (Item 7 → Item 8)
5. GAM modeling and diagnostics are performed on upper triangles (Item 9)
6. Matrices containing both upper and lower triangles are created (Item 10 → Item 11)
7. Graphs for the paper are generated (Item 12)

Citation

Please cite this repository using the appropriate citation format if you use this data or code in your research.