Identity theft is seemingly everywhere. Based on our electronic world that we live in, crucial data about your life is being held in various databases by the federal government and also private companies. Just how secure is this data? You might be surprised when you look closer.
We have all seen the headlines of credit card companies that have had millions of card numbers that have been compromised. But how often do data breaches really occur? Just a simple recap of recorded breaches since 2005 will blow your mind.
As I scrolled through what must be hundreds of breaches with information including the organization, what occurred, and the number of records affected, I started wondering if people who haven’t had an issue with identify theft or with illegal use of their credit card numbers might be in the minority in the coming years. To be fair, not all the breaches were electronic in nature (many involved W-2s and other paper documents).
However, with most people assuming that electronic storage is more secure, it is sobering to see the issues with other types of records occurring as well. Laptops seem especially vulnerable to theft, misplacing, I think I left it in the taxi, etc, so we should be doubly concerned about those types of situations as well. I was involved in one myself when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had a laptop stolen with the records of 26.5 million veterans (including mine) on it. The hard drive was eventually recovered. The Veterans department felt that none of the records were compromised. I feel so much better now!
What hope is there for these problems to get rectified? I read recently where a company (TJX Companies Inc.) that many credit card companies worked with that had a breach with their records - they are now being sued it looks like by the companies (banks) that were affected. I believe many companies play a game of burying their heads in the sand when these breaches occur. If they get exposed, they try and keep it quiet and hope their reputation isn’t tarnished too much so they can keep making money. If more companies take the time to sue and make companies like TJX really pay for their oversights, then we all might start feeling better about our data.
What do you think about this topic? How safe is your name, address, social security number, birth date, etc…….?