News that there has been a data breach is common. As we rely more on technology for everyday events like banking, investing, and shopping, we provide more opportunities for our personal identifying information (PII) to fall into the wrong hands. But do we really understand what can happen with the information once it has been taken?
PII identifies us because it contains information that reveals who we are. Some of it, like our image, phone number, email address, are readily available. We are more guarded with our banking and credit card information. Yet all this, and more, provides a treasure trove for those who are looking to steal our identities.
The reality is that it is not a matter of if your data is part of a data breach, but when your data is part of a data breach.
Data breaches can occur due to internal or external security failures. Sometimes they result from an employee clicking a link they should not have. Other times, they result from malware infiltrating a computer system. They can also occur because data was not properly secured or destroyed.
Recently ,there was a data breach of the voter information of 2.9 million Albertans. The case is currently under investigation, but Elections Alberta has confirmed that it resulted from the improper destruction of a voter list by a political party. The response to the breach varied from outrage to complacency, partly because data breaches are common and partly because many do not understand how leaked data can be used.
Another reason for the mixed response was the public nature of some of the information. In the past, residents’ residents’ names and addresses were readily available in phone books. Many questioned how the voter information was different. In Alberta, voter information includes not only your name, address, and phone number but also your provincially issued identification number, such as your driver’s license number. Any of this information can benefit a skilled fraudster.
What is the data used for?
While data breaches are often carried out for financial gain, there are other ways the information can be leveraged. In the case of the voter data breach, the data contains PII of law enforcement, politicians, and other vulnerable individuals, like victims of domestic abuse. The information that was exposed could be exploited for revenge, hate crimes, or other personal attacks.
On the other side of the coin, stolen data can enable fraudsters to open new bank accounts, apply for credit or government benefits. A fraudster who has your phone number can scrape your voice from your voicemail and combine it with your name, address, and date of birth to break into your financial account.
Leaked data can also be used to carry out impersonation schemes, where someone pretends to be someone the target knows. This could be a friend, a relative, a business the individual uses, or an employer. Fraudsters who steal identities could pose as an individual or combine elements of several stolen identities to create a composite identity.
The misconception that the information is old and therefore not useful to anyone is false. The age of the data is not relevant when bad actors want to create new accounts and potentially use them in account takeover schemes.
Minimize the risk
There are steps you can take to reduce personal risk when your data is part of a data breach. These tips will not prevent your data from being part of a breach, nor will they stop a fraudster from trying to use it. However, they may reduce the extent of the damage to your finances or reputation.
- Tip 1: Make your passwords difficult to guess and keep them secure. The longer the password, the longer it takes to crack it.
- Tip 2: Use a different password for every site you have an account on. Use a password manager to manage them all, so you only need to remember one password.
- Tip 3: Change your passwords often. This reduces the risk of thieves accessing your data.
- Tip 4: Use multifactor authentication whenever you can. This lets you know when someone is trying to access your account and allows you to stop them.
- Tip 5: Pay attention to your credit scores. Quebec and Ontario allow Canadians to freeze their credit, however, many financial institutions provide credit score monitoring.
- Tip 6: Do not click on links embedded in emails. Instead, type the website address into your browser. If the email is real, you will be able to find the information on the site.
- Tip 7: If someone you know asks you something they should know, or if the email or phone number does not match what is in your contact list, be suspicious. Do not respond without verifying their identity.
- Tip 8: Watch out for red flags in conversations. Red flags could be urgency, secrecy, or promises of high returns on investments.
- Tip 9: Pay attention to what you post online. When you answer the quiz that asks you to name your school, places you have visited, or similar questions, that information could be used to verify your identity.
- Tip 10: Manage your cookies. When you can manage your preferences a web, t sitee oththe other; th tracking and preferences that are not necessary.
- Tip 11: Contact your bank if you suspect misuse.
- Tip 12: Report attempts to the authorities. The more schemes are reported, the more information there is to investigate. Reporting also allows law enforcement to leinformhe public knout the frattempted fraud
Living in a digital world means data breaches will happen. Understanding how they can affect us and taking steps to reduce our risk are the best ways to minimize their impact.
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