Data is the new currency and the vault is unlocked

Dear Readers,

Have you heard of the Data Broker; the companies that profit from our personal data. The Data Brokerage industry generates $280 billion per year collecting and selling our personal information.

We have all been hearing that we are in the information age. Who knew it was our information generating all of the profits.

What are Data Brokers Collecting??

Short answer, everything. Names, addresses, birthdates, phone numbers, emails, social security numbers, and on, and on, and on.

Data Brokers collect the pieces of information that make you who you are and store them in their corporate databases to sell to potential corporate clients.

What is the Problem??

This is nothing new. Companies have always collected information about consumers. But that was before the internet, identity theft, wire fraud, and other cyber crime.

Now there are ways to monetize stolen data; and with data brokers storing our information in improperly secured places, there are those all to eager to steal it.

For example these former IT professionals contracting out their skills.

What’s the solution?

The solution is prevention and protection. Our newsletter is devoted to digital security education.

American Express announced a breach of a third party vendor exposing cardholder names and account number.

U-Haul had a similar problem losing names, dates of birth, and driver license numbers of over 67,000 customers.

Lets look at some statistics:

• Every 39 seconds there is a cyber attack

• 75% of cyber attacks stat with a scam email

• 91% percent of companies (some with your data) faced a cyber attack

• It takes an average of 197 days, half a year, to find a breach. Not counting the time to fix it or waiting to tell you about it.

• T-mobile had the most data breaches in 2023

Bank of America is preparing to tell 57,000 customers about a recent breach of names, addresses, account and credit card numbers, social security numbers, and more.

What does it all mean?

Your information is out there. Some you gave away, some was collected without your knowledge. But it’s out there. What you can do is limit the damage when a malicious entity gets a hold of it. Subscribe and keep learning how. If you know someone who could benefit from the newsletter share it with them.

See you next Tuesday.

Stay informed,

The Help Desk

Found a good podcast on digital security this week.

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