Today marks the first post in our countdown of the10 most ground-breaking data breaches of 2010.

As 2010 comes to a close, we are given the chance to reflect on the past year in data breaches.

Something interesting, and possibly surprising, has occurred. There has been a 93.7% drop in the volume of data stolen from 2009 to 2010. 

An analysis that used data from the Privacy Clearinghouse, a public database that records all breaches of U.S. citizens’ personal and sensitive information, showed 230M data records taken in 2009 and 13M taken in 2010.

Why such a significant drop?

Number 1: This year we have yet to experience any mega-breaches, such as Heartland (130M lost records) or Veteran’s Administration (30M records lost on a laptop). So far, the largest breach in 2010 has come from malware sucking 3M FAA data records. When you remove mega-breaches from the equation, the data appears more consistent. 

Number 2: As we transition from 2009 to 2010, we also see the value of data increasing. A survey in the Financial Times reported that 2010 will be the first year the value of digital assets stolen will exceed the value of physical assets.

So, what has increased? The total number of incidents. In fact, they have doubled.

It’s important to note that even with the drop in data breach volume, security teams have not gone on vacation. A recent Gartner report showed an 11 percent increase in security budgets from 2009 to 2010.

So, what are the top 10 ground-breaking data breaches of 2010? Breach #10: The FAA.