What You Need to Know About a Data Breach
About Data Breach
A data breach happens when confidential, private, protected or sensitive information is shared with someone who shouldn’t have it. That information can be used for unauthorized purposes, such as stealing identities and hacking into financial accounts or exposing personal medical records.
Companies face fines, financial loss and reputational damage when a breach occurs. Attackers may steal an employees’ work or personal device to gain access to a company’s network, break into office buildings to steal paper documents and physical hard drives, or place skimming devices on point-of-sale terminals (credit card readers).
Some attacks expose confidential business plans, email correspondence, financial information and even the identities of government contractors. For example, an incident at a military contractor exposed details of confidential contracts, political dealings, and national infrastructure details to foreign agencies.
Other breaches involve personal data, such as names, addresses, social security numbers, phone numbers and other details that can be used for identity theft or fraud. Often, hackers who gain access to these kinds of records can sell them on the Dark Web or use them to open new accounts in a victim’s name.
Consumers can experience distress, anxiety and financial loss when their personal information is exposed. To protect them, it’s important to notify them quickly of a breach and give them steps they can take to mitigate the harm. It also helps to have a plan in place for how you will communicate with consumers, including where they can go to see the latest updates about the breach.