As Capital One recently revealed another massive hack, affecting the personal information of over 100 million people, the question from individuals is shifting from whether their information has previously been compromised to instead asking how many times. “Assume your data is out there because in all likelihood it is,” Brian Krebs, cybersecurity journalist, told The CBC. Each new breach “adds to the pile of information that is available for the bad guys to do bad things with,” said Krebs.
Says Daniel Tobok, CEO of Cyberintelligence, when considering the number and size of breaches, “Almost any Canadian over the age of 18 has had their information compromised by this time.”
As to what can be done to ensure any stolen information isn’t abused, recommendations mostly focus on monitoring, through watching your existing accounts for unexpected charges or using a service like Equifax to check for the opening of new accounts. “Check your statements on monthly basis, and just be on alert,” says Tobok, who adds that people should use common sense when contacted by someone claiming to be from recently hacked organizations.
Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/data-hack-analysis-1.5230446
