How Does a Data Breach Happen?
A data breach happens when personal information like your name, credit card details, bank account numbers, or medical records are exposed to hackers. Many criminals sell this data on the dark web, putting those affected at risk of identity theft for years to come. Some people also experience emotional distress and physical harm from data breaches. Breaches can also hit companies hard, reducing customer retention and recruitment and forcing them to pay hefty fines to regulators and shareholders.
A cybercriminal first scopes out potential targets by stalking their social media profiles or searching for infrastructure, system, and application weaknesses. Next, they infiltrate the company through a network attack or a social engineering attack. The latter usually involves phishing or tricking an employee into sharing login information or opening malware. Once inside the network, the attacker can then tunnel through various systems and user accounts to get to the sensitive data they’re after.
Almost every device, software program, and server has gaps in security that hackers can exploit. For example, your smart home devices may have gaping flaws that hackers can hijack via malware infections to steal personal information and money. Hackers can also brute force your passwords by working through all possibilities until they guess it correctly.