More Than 4 Billion Records Exposed in 2019
The year isn’t even over yet, but a company called Risk Based Security has published a report detailing the damage done so far in 2019. According to Forbes and Risk Based Security, the first six months of 2019 have seen more than 3,800 publicly disclosed breaches exposing 4.1 billion compromised records. More than 75% (3-plus billion) of those records were exposed by eight breaches. Emails and passwords were leaked in most of the breaches.
The interesting thing about the report is that the big companies weren’t entirely to blame. Mid-sized and smaller businesses were targeted for their personal information as well. Small breaches of 10,000 or less really adds up to a lot over time. These smaller organizations don’t have nearly as much scrutiny in the public eye, nor do they care much to invest in data protection services. Why would hackers target them anyway? Well, for the same reason they target you.
Criminals take the path of least resistance when it comes down to it. Smaller businesses are easier to exploit. Even the most basic store will ask you for your personal information, whether or not they legally have to. Online or offline, just about every store uses a computer somewhere along the way.
When hackers breach a small network, no one bats an eye. Most businesses have no idea what to do and neither do the police. There is no cyber police force to call and report a digital break in. Plus, many people mistakenly think that since nothing physical was stolen, there’s not really any harm that can come from it in the end.
Digital information theft costs people like you and me billions each and every year. Data mining is valuable because our personal information is like gold in the information age.
Forbes writes, “In the past six years, identity thieves have stolen over $107 billion in the U.S., according to a 2017 Identity Fraud Study.”
Everything from our shopping habits to our Social Security Numbers are digitalized. If you are currently under attack by identity fraudsters, freeze your credit and contact any relevant parties to report the identity fraud. Follow up by subscribing to Wiperts and let the professionals scrub your personal information away from the internet.
