No company is safe from data breaches, from food-service behemoths like McDonald’s to e-commerce merchants like Shopify. You doubtless participate in the global economy in some way, too, so you aren’t safe either. Data breaches now happen so often that they rarely make the regular news cycle, but that doesn’t make them any less dangerous. A data breach gives cybercriminals the chance to uncover your private information and use it for nefarious purposes, such as identity theft.
Few people know more about the volume and frequency of data breaches around the world than Troy Hunt, a Microsoft Regional Director and the man behind HaveIBeenPwned, a free online security resource. His website lists data breaches as they are reported and allows visitors to check if their information has appeared in any of them. I spoke to Hunt about data breaches over the phone, and he offered a lot of information about keeping data private.
How Often Do Data Breaches Happen?
“Every day. Multiple times. Every day, without question.”
While speaking to me on the phone from his home in Brisbane, Australia, Hunt said he processed 545 breached accounts that morning from overnight reports, and he had at least that many more left to process and post on his website. Hunt said it is important to consider that there are data breaches that have not been reported by organizations yet, as well as incidents that are so new that organizations don’t even know they’ve happened.
Companies’ security services are put to the test regularly. 2018 saw over 10 times the amount of data exposed compared to 2008 and according to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), data compromises were up 12% in Q1 of 2021 compared to Q4 2020. The ITRC reports the Q1 trend points to a rise in cybercrimes using personal information obtained through data breaches.
Why Should You Care?
Your information is out there, and if attackers have your email address and password for one site or app, they may have the keys to much of your life. Using the same easy-to-remember password everywhere is a great way to put your accounts at risk. You should care about your data showing up in a data breach because bad actors could use this information to take over your sensitive accounts or even steal your identity.
“Depending on the nature of the data, it might be information you just don’t want other people to see,” Hunt said. He continued, “It might be something like Ashley Madison; that was a hell of a data breach. It might be something very deeply personal. This is a case where people actually killed themselves over it.”
Strength in Passwords
Facebook, Yahoo, and Amazon customers have all been affected by data breaches in recent years. If these big companies can’t keep your data secure, can any online company? It’s time to take a proactive approach and lock down your online life.
In this age of near-constant data breaches, preventative actions such as using a password manager and enabling two-factor authentication on your accounts, are important. Password managers help you create strong passwords for all your accounts.
A good password manager requires you to make an account and create a strong master password, while it does the rest of the work to protect your life online. If you’re worried about creating a guessable master password, the password manager will do more than just look for a minimum length and use of different characters. The program will rate easy-to-remember passwords as weak, forcing you to create and remember a master password that is likely to keep your information secure.
You Can’t Lose What You Don’t Share
Much of our social and professional lives happen online due to the pandemic. Even if you believe Facebook is the least secure social app, it isn’t feasible or ideal for most people to delete their entire online presence to prevent account takeovers. Hunt said this idea also isn’t necessary with a little bit of a mindset adjustment. If you don’t give out sensitive data in the first place, you don’t have to worry about losing it.
“I almost exclusively post publicly on Facebook now. Part of the reason for that is if you post privately, you’re one security control away from that information being public”. Troy explained, “So if you work under the assumption that the things you’re putting onto these platforms are on public display, and you adapt your behavior accordingly, the risk really goes down.”
Decline to enter your birthday when purchasing something online. Don’t post pictures of your kids in the bathtub online. Remember that the internet is forever, and any information you divulge is at risk of being uncovered. Data breaches happen every day, but you don’t have to become a victim of an account takeover.
What to Do If You’re Caught in a Breach?
So you’ve been pwned. It’s not the end of the world; it happens every day, and can happen to anyone. Stay calm and get organized. Read through your credit card statements, change your passwords, and check out PCMag’s guide to what to do when you’ve been hacked. Keep an eye on your credit report, and invest in a powerful security suite. It may take a little time and a lot of work, but you can recover from data exposure.
