The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, act as legal, financial or credit advice; instead, it is for general informational purposes only. Information on this website may not be current. This website may contain links to other third-party websites. Such links are only for the convenience of the reader, user or browser; we do not recommend or endorse the contents of any third-party sites. Readers of this website should contact their attorney, accountant or credit counselor to obtain advice with respect to their particular situation. No reader, user, or browser of this site should act or not act on the basis of information on this site. Always seek personal legal, financial or credit advice for your relevant jurisdiction. Only your individual attorney or advisor can provide assurances that the information contained herein – and your interpretation of it – is applicable or appropriate to your particular situation. Use of, and access to, this website or any of the links or resources contained within the site do not create an attorney-client or fiduciary relationship between the reader, user, or browser and website owner, authors, contributors, contributing firms, or their respective employers.
Credit.com receives compensation for the financial products and services advertised on this site if our users apply for and sign up for any of them. Compensation is not a factor in the substantive evaluation of any product.
The number of U.S. citizens who have experienced a data breach has increased, according to Pew Research. In fact, 18% of adults have had information stolen via the Internet between 2013 and 2014. Such information could be a Social Security number, credit card or bank account data. In 2013, that number was only 11%. The total percentage of adults who have had their email or social networking account hacked was 21%, or more than one out of five adults.
Cybersecurity isn’t as safe as some may have thought. Companies as large as Target and Neiman Marcus have experienced major data breaches that resulted in the compromise of millions of customers’ credit and debit card information. Additionally, the Heartbleed Bug in Internet security protocols used by a large portion of the Web was recently exposed, raising awareness of major holes in the protection that keeps user information secure.
In addition to basic security breaches, many are also becoming concerned about the amount of personal information that is available to hackers online through social networking sites. Half of those surveyed reported this concern in 2014, while only 33% were worried about this issue in 2009.
A data breach that possibly compromised up to 200 million Social Security numbers is currently under investigation by several state Attorneys General. In 2012, a man used a false identity to purchase Social Security numbers from a database called Court Ventures. Experian then purchased Court Ventures, and it is unclear when either company became aware of the serious data breach.
The culprit was identified last month as Vietnamese national Hieu Minh Ngo, according to NBC news. Ngo ran an underground website that offered Social Security numbers he had acquired from Experian and Court Ventures. It is unclear how many Social Security numbers have been compromised through this data breach, but the total pool of information from which Ngo could have pulled numbers amounted to about 200 million.
The companies involved say they are unable to determine which records Ngo had accessed, and cannot notify the victims. The data breach has resulted in a multi-state investigation.
[Editor’s note: If you’re concerned about whether your data is being used to commit financial fraud, it’s important to monitor your credit reports — you can start by pulling your free annual credit reports — for signs of fraud. It’s also important to monitor your credit scores for any unexpected drops — and you can access your credit scores for free through Credit.com.]
Image: scyther5
April 11, 2023
Uncategorized
September 13, 2021
Uncategorized
August 4, 2021
Uncategorized