The data breach settlements follow a growing litigation trend, says privacy attorney Iliana Peters of the law firm Polsinelli.

As recently as five years ago, maybe only one in five privacy and security incidents reported to regulators resulted in litigation, estimates the former senior adviser at the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights. Now, it's more like eight out of ten. "This type of litigation is seriously affecting cyber insurers, as well, and may result in less coverage available to entities with all of these burdens to confront," Peters laments.