THE number of data breaches reported by the financial sector has more than doubled in the last two years, according to new figures.

The UK's leading banks, including Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, HSBC, and NatWest, are all named as having reported breaches, contributing to 791 in total since the start of 2013 across the financial services industry.

A freedom of information request by encryption services firm Egress Software Technologies to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) found a 183 per cent rise in the number of Data Protection Act breach investigations. Human error was said to be responsible for 93 per cent of the reported breaches.

Egress chief executive Tony Pepper said: "The financial services industry has a responsibility to us all to ensure that the information they manage on our behalf, including bank accounts, mortgages and insurance policies, is protected in a highly secure way.

"Today's report, however, casts some major concerns over the mistakes they're making with the information entrusted to them, whether that be citizens' personal details or highly confidential reports about the economic future of the country.

"It is staggering to see financial services firms reporting more than three times the number of incidents than the legal sector, which has recently come under targeted fire from the ICO. Today's findings suggest that similar, if not harsher, criticism ought to be levied at the banks, building societies and insurance firms too."

The trade association for the banking sector, the British Bankers Association (BBA), said the data should be viewed in context with other sectors, especially given the large online presence of banks through internet banking and mobile apps - something not prominent in the legal sector.

"Banks have millions of customers online and more records to safeguard than any other industry in the survey. Our sector spends hundreds of millions of pounds protecting personal information, and it's vital that misleading reports like this don't undermine customer trust," said the group in a statement.

"The banks have a responsibility to send out reports when data has been accidentally compromised. In the majority of cases the ICO takes no action, either because the issues in question aren't within their remit or because there has not actually been a breach. The increase in reports indicates that banks' compliance checks are working effectively and breaches are being identified and reported.

"It is crucial to remember than not every breach is of detriment to a customer or even relates to a customer at all. The banks are absolutely dedicated to keeping important personal information confidential."

Last month, the Bank of England accidentally sent sensitive information regarding the UK's EU membership to a newspaper.