Almost Half of American Adults Have Been Hacked In the Last 12 Months
The chances that your data has been exposed by hackers in the last 12 months is nearing 50%, and it’s probably not your computer that gave up the goods. It was one or more of the dozens of companies you trust to keep your personal information safe.
A new study by CNNMoney estimates that the past 12 months have seen as many as 110 million Americans have their data exposed by hacks – and many of them suffer that fate more than once. CNNMoney puts the total number of hacked accounts in the neighborhood of 432 million. Ouch.
Target announced a new Digital Advisory Council this week to help it improve security. The Council includes Sam Yagan (CEO of Match.com), Roger Liew (Orbitz), Ajay Agarwal (Capital Ventures) and Amy Chang (CEO of Accompani). Image credit: Target
As scary as those statistics are, they’re not all that surprising. If you even keep just casual tabs on the news, you’ve heard plenty about security breaches at major companies. Obviously, the wildly successful attack on Target has been a hot news item, but smaller companies are feeling the heat as well. Spotify recently announced a breach, though it looks like little data was exposed.
If there is any good news in all this, it’s that the barrage of attacks in the public eye is likely causing some companies to bolster their data security measures. Hopefully, it will also give more companies the confidence to announce breaches so consumers aren’t blindsided.
A new study by CNNMoney estimates that the past 12 months have seen as many as 110 million Americans have their data exposed by hacks – and many of them suffer that fate more than once. CNNMoney puts the total number of hacked accounts in the neighborhood of 432 million. Ouch.
Target announced a new Digital Advisory Council this week to help it improve security. The Council includes Sam Yagan (CEO of Match.com), Roger Liew (Orbitz), Ajay Agarwal (Capital Ventures) and Amy Chang (CEO of Accompani). Image credit: Target
As scary as those statistics are, they’re not all that surprising. If you even keep just casual tabs on the news, you’ve heard plenty about security breaches at major companies. Obviously, the wildly successful attack on Target has been a hot news item, but smaller companies are feeling the heat as well. Spotify recently announced a breach, though it looks like little data was exposed.
If there is any good news in all this, it’s that the barrage of attacks in the public eye is likely causing some companies to bolster their data security measures. Hopefully, it will also give more companies the confidence to announce breaches so consumers aren’t blindsided.
