Cybercriminals break into about 4,800 websites every month by using a code to fill out forms. All too often, we hear that a major hotel chain or social media company is exposing customer data.
Hackers can get into your personal information and passwords undetected. And the time from breach to breach notification can be very long. An example of this is the CafePress data breach. This is a popular online retailer that prints personalized articles.
CafePress was the victim of a data breach in February 2019. In this breach, millions of names and addresses, security questions, and more were exposed. The hackers also obtained social security numbers that weren’t encrypted.
As mentioned earlier, the breach occurred in February. However, many consumers weren’t notified until late summer. The FTC recently took action against the company. The reason was the company’s negligent security practices.
The point is that months or years can go by without you learning about the compromised data. Unless you happen to look at the right website, you might not even notice it. These breached password features in browsers are helpful. But what if other information besides the password has been compromised?
The best way to protect yourself is to get knowledge. Onyx IT team will help you do that by listing some of the recent security breaches. If you’ve dealt with any of them, you should take steps to protect yourself from the consequences.
Recent Personal Data Breaches That May Affect You
Microsoft Customer Data Breach
On October 19, 2022, Microsoft announced a security breach that exposed customer data. A misconfigured server was responsible. The security breach exposed certain business transaction data. It’s believed that more than 65,000 companies worldwide may have been affected by the security breach.
2.5 Million Records Exposed in a Student Loan Breach
Have you received a student loan from EdFinancial and the Oklahoma Student Loan Authority (OSLA)? If so, you could be in trouble. The organizations notified affected individuals by letter in July 2022.
The personal information at risk included:
- Social security numbers:
- Email addresses
- Home addresses
- Telephone numbers
The security breach compromised the data of over 2.5 million borrowers.
U-Haul Data Breach of 2.2 Million Individuals’ Data
The large rental company U-Haul is a household name. It too just had a major data breach. The company informed its customers in August 2022 that some rental contracts had been compromised. The contacts in question took place between November 5, 2021 and April 5, 2022.
The breach exposed names, driver’s licence numbers and state identification numbers. More than 2.2 million people who had rented vehicles from the company were affected.
Neopets Breach Might Have Compromised 69 Million Accounts
You wouldn’t guess that a cute website like Neopets would pose a cybersecurity risk. But users of the platform got a rude awakening when the service was attacked. An estimated 69 million accounts may have had emails and passwords leaked.
The entire stolen Neopets database and a copy of the source code were put up for sale for about $94,500.
An employee computer causes a break-in at Marriott
Hotel giant Marriott suffered another security breach in July 2022. A single unsecured employee computer was to blame. Approximately 300-400 people were affected by data breaches. This data included credit card numbers and other confidential information.
Unfortunately, the company is showing a pattern of poor cybersecurity. Within the last four years, there have been three separate security breaches. That’s enough to pay in cash or use a prepaid card if you’re staying there overnight.
Shield Health Care Group discloses up to 2 million records
A security breach was discovered at Shield Health Care Group in March 2022. The Massachusetts-based company found that hackers had penetrated up to 2 million customer records. This includes medical records, Social Security numbers and other sensitive personal data.
Flagstar Bank Takes 6 Months to Find Individuals Affected in a Breach
A security breach occurred at Flagstar Bank in December 2021. It wasn’t until 6 months later that the individuals affected were identified. And the impact was large. Social security numbers were exposed, among other things. About 1.5 million customers were affected by the hack.
8.2 million Block’s Clients Have Been Compromised
Block was formerly known as Square, a popular payment processing platform. The company announced in April 2022 that it had been the victim of an intrusion the previous December. A former employee had access to customer names and brokerage account numbers. Some accounts also had other stock trading information accessed.
The data of about 8.2 million current and former customers was exposed.
Crypto.com breach earns hackers over $30 million
Cryptocurrencies may be popular right now, but they’re very vulnerable to cyberattacks. In January 2022, the wallets of over 483 Crypto.com users were attacked.
The criminals managed to bypass two-factor authentication, which is usually quite effective. They stole about $18 million in Bitcoin and $15 million in Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies.
Are Your Passwords Secure Enough?
Onyx IT has many solutions that can help you better manage and secure your passwords. Give Onyx IT a call to learn more about protecting your personal data from a breach.
Article used with permission from The Technology Press.