A data breach is a cyberattack that exposes personal information. This might mean that you can lose your passwords, access to your email accounts, or your bank accounts. Also, it means that your data is exposed.
Then, hackers use this information for malicious actions: to steal your money, to sell the data, etc.
Although hackers try to breach websites, while looking for users’ personal information, a breach can also happen accidentally. But usually, cybercriminals hack the database of companies or authorities. Then, they search to access the information users shared with these entities.
As usual, criminals want to make some easy profit by using this data. So, the best targets for them are those entities, public or private, that own huge amounts of personal data. As villains can steal huge amounts of data from them, hospitals, colleges, and large companies are all in this target group.
Only in the second quarter of 2023, data compromises affected over 110 million accounts, 2.5 times more than during the first quarter. Attackers mainly targeted the United States, Russia, Spain, France, and Turkey.
So, villains usually:
Remember that these are just the most common ways they act.
Once they have the data, attackers exploit it immediately, and they could:
All these bring them money, and you can check here how much your information is worth for criminals, on the dark web.
We all know that it is better to prevent than to react. So, the best way to keep your data safe is by:
Still, we are not all cybersecurity experts. So, no matter how many safety measures you take, you can become victims, as attackers find new ways to act. That’s why you need to know what to do in this situation. Here are the steps you should take:
One way to prevent this from happening in the future is by using identity theft protection services. You can find a list of the best, here.
Remember to always stay safe. This will give you the peace of mind you deserve.
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