Data breaches, hacks, and digital scams are a huge problem not only for companies and governments but for all of us. Because when your Personal Identifiable Information (PII) is exposed, it leads to identity theft and potentially losing the funds in your bank account.
Data breaches are a staggering problem, a problem that isn’t going away any time soon.
With that in mind, consider a first-class identity theft protection service like IDShield to help protect you and your family against identity theft.
Now, let’s look at the most recent, and largest, 2022 data breaches.
Health care data breaches
Hospitals and health care companies have long been targets of cyber-criminals and 2022 is no exception.
In June of this year, a health care group, headquartered in Massachusetts, suffered a data breach that affected 2,000,000 people’s names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and billing and private medical information.
In the same month, there were similar breaches at a Texas health care company that exposed similar personal information, including Social Security numbers and confidential patient medical data. And there were also breaches at other health care centers that affected over 770,000 patients, which led to FTC-mandated notifications to affected people, not to mention raising privacy and identity theft concerns.
DeFi platform data breaches
Cryptocurrency has risen in popularity in recent years, which also means that tools for managing such currencies have been developed too quickly. Online thieves have taken advantage in a big way.
In March 2022, a North Korean hacking group stole over $540 million worth of Ethereum.
And two other crypto hacks in 2022 led to over $500 million in losses. The first occurred when hackers exploited a flaw in the Wormhole bridge to steal millions worth of Ethereum and the second theft was a result of attackers focusing on a stablecoin protocol called Beanstalk that essentially enabled them to give themselves a loan.
All of the above goes to show that the possibility of losing significant funds as a result of a data breach is very real.
Russian hacking
Russia is a world leader when it comes to hacking. Since the Ukraine conflict started in February 2022, Russia has caused blackouts, stolen data and exposed Ukrainians’ Personal Identifiable Information. But Ukraine is fighting back. It has its own “IT Army” of “hacktivists” that focus on hacks and initiating data breaches in Russia on a new scale that is causing much damage to Russians—particularly, it’s soldiers. For example, names, birthdates and passport numbers of 1,600 Russian soldiers were exposed. And in another leak, over 600 Russian spies had their PII released.
As this war drags on, this type of warfare will only increase.
California concealed-carry permit data breach
After the June 2022 Supreme Court decision about concealed-carry gun permit laws, there was a data breach that potentially affected EVERYONE who applied for a concealed-carry permit between 2011-2021.
This particular breach was not due to hackers but was a result of a careless mistake by the California Department of Justice 2022 Firearms Dashboard Portal.
While the breach in itself was not caused by hostile intent, the open data leaves individuals exposed to cyber-criminals who can take advantage of the information and commit identity theft.
GiveSendGo data breach
In February 2022, a Christian fundraising site was hacked in response to the trucker protests in Ottawa, Canada. The personal details of all those who made donations were exposed.
To make matters worse, the hackers published the personal information of over 93,000 contributors. This breach shows how important it is to use secure, encrypted payment systems.
Predictions
It’s difficult to predict future data breaches, but one area of commerce to keep an eye on is legalized online gambling. That market was worth over $53 billion in 2021. With more American states legalizing gambling, it’s likely that gamblers will be in the crosshairs of cyber-criminals in the form of phishing and e-mail scams.
IDShield can help
The most important step you can take when it comes to protecting yourself from data breaches is to safeguard your Personal Identifiable Information. Getting identity theft protection from IDShield is truly one of the most effective ways to battle data breaches and online thieves. Don’t become another statistic or horror story.
IDShield offers first-class personal data monitoring, Social Security number monitoring, credit monitoring and privacy and reputation management and takes pride in its highly qualified team of professionals, including Licensed Private Investigators, who will help you should an identity theft event occur.
Sign up today for either 1 or 3 credit bureau monitoring. IDShield offers a free trial, so there’s no risk. It’s your all-inclusive solution to identity protection, credit monitoring, reputation management and identity theft restoration.
Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. (“PPLSI”) provides access to legal and identity theft services through membership-based participation. IDShield is a product of PPLSI. All Licensed Private Investigators are licensed in the state of Oklahoma. The information available in this blog is meant to provide general information and is not intended to provide professional advice, render an option, or provide any specific recommendations. The blog post is not a substitute for competent and professional advice. Information contained in the blog may be provided by authors who could be third-party paid contributors. All information by authors is accepted in good faith; however, PPLSI makes no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of such information.
