In 2014, data hackers were very busy indeed. Major breaches occurred across the business board, from retail stores, to government agencies, and even at secure banking institutes. In the age of information, it seems no one is safe. Cyber thieves are hellbent on compromising your information, leaving you exposed to identity theft, financial theft, and robbed of peace of mind. So what can you do to protect yourself and your information? Here are three newsworthy data breaches that impacted businesses and their customers in 2014, and some steps that you can take to defend yourself against the modern threat of information theft in case your trusted businesses fail to safeguard you.
Home Depot
The data breach of Home Depot’s stored information rocked the retail world. The event spanned April through September of 2014. In all cases of data theft, those affected by a breach have an increased chance of becoming victims of identity theft. Though Home Depot originally believed that the breach mainly included only compromised email addresses, the occurrence ended up costing banking institutes nearly $9 million for the reissuing of cards. Though Home Depot offered credit monitoring to those affected many customers have filed lawsuits against the company.
To safeguard your information, money experts recommend that you opt to use credit rather than debit when making a purchase. Not only does this prevent theft of your PIN from PIN pad theft devices, but you are only possibly liable for up to $50 on a credit theft occurrence, while debit theft liability could run up as high as $500.
Oregon Employment Department
Though many breaches occur at large-scale retail stores, sometimes they hit closer to home, even at government agencies. In October 2014, the Oregon Employment Department reported that their system had been hacked, subsequently leaving 851,322 people at risk of identity theft.
Though the department knew of the breach, the entity waited two weeks before notifying the victims. The Oregon Employment Department offered free credit monitoring for those whose information had been compromised, but state officials felt this action was insufficient and that the two-week lapse between breach and notification left individuals vulnerable for too long.
JP Morgan Chase Bank
Perhaps the most frightening breach of 2014 was the hacking of JP Morgan Chase Bank as it demonstrated that even the most seemingly secure entities are vulnerable to illegal information mining. In the case of the JP Morgan Chase Bank event, approximately 8 million small businesses and 76 million individual accounts where compromised. JP Morgan reported that the breach occurred in June and July of 2014, and then in August many customers began receiving multiple phishing scam emails.
Though the bank reported that no account information was leaked, only contact information, it’s still recommended that customers check their account activity frequently. Another proactive step to take in the event that your data is compromised is to frequently change your passwords, for both your email and online account logins.
Your best defense against becoming a victim of hacked information is a good offense. Become knowledgeable on the subject. It’s a necessary life skill in the information age.
