The number of reported breaches this year already tops the total for 2007, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center of San Diego. And we've still got four months to go in 2008.

The nonprofit group reported 449 breaches at U.S. businesses, government agencies and universities that reported a loss or theft of consumer data this year, compared with 446 breaches last year, reports The Washington Post. This year at least 22 million consumer records have been compromised, while the 127 million consumer records involved last year included about 90 million attributed to the fiasco at retail chain TJX.

Founder Linda Foley said the higher number might indicate corporate security auditors are better at detecting intrusions, according to InformationWeek.

The group says the actual number of breaches was probably higher because many breaches aren't reported.