What is a data breach?

A data breach is fundamentally defined as an incident where sensitive information is accessed by unauthorized individuals. This encompasses various types of sensitive data, such as personal identifiable information (PII), financial records, or proprietary business information. The critical factor that qualifies an incident as a data breach is the unauthorized nature of the access, which signifies a loss of confidentiality and potentially puts individuals or organizations at risk.

In contrast, while unauthorized access to a data center is a serious security incident, it does not inherently define a data breach unless sensitive information is compromised or disclosed. Similarly, the exposure of non-confidential information does not constitute a data breach since it does not involve sensitive data being accessed without permission. Interference with data transmission, while it may pose a security risk, also does not meet the criteria of a data breach unless it leads to unauthorized access to sensitive information. Therefore, the correct characterization of a data breach is about unauthorized access to sensitive information specifically, making this the most accurate definition among the presented choices.