What is a Data Breach?
Data Breach is a cyberattack that exposes confidential information, often for financial gain. It can affect businesses, consumers and the reputations of organizations. It can also lead to legal action from affected individuals and regulatory bodies. Data breaches occur for many reasons, including intentional attacks like hacking or malware; employee negligence; physical theft of portable drives or office computers; and unintended disclosure through mistakes or flaws in a business’s security infrastructure.
When a breach occurs, it can result in lost revenue, operational downtime and cost of remediation for the company involved. Reputational damage is a significant concern for businesses, and it can cause customers and vendors to cease doing business with them. It can also lead to costly litigation and fines for companies that have been breached.
Criminals can sell stolen data on the dark web, putting people at elevated risk of identity theft for years to come. For those who find out they’re impacted by a breach, there are many things they can do to reduce their risks.
Change passwords on all accounts and enable two-factor authentication where available. If the breach affected financial account access information, such as credit card or bank account numbers, contact those institutions so they can monitor for fraudulent activity. If Social Security numbers were compromised, contact the major credit bureaus to request fraud alerts and credit freezes. Finally, be vigilant about suspicious messages and emails. Don’t click on links in unsolicited emails and don’t download or open attachments that aren’t from a trusted source.