Data breaches are like mice, or cockroaches

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November 30th, 2009 - Posted by Caitlin

Why are data breaches like mice or cockroaches? Because for every one that you see, there are hundreds or even thousands that you don't see.

According to the FBI's top Internet crimes investigator, the public only knows about a handful of the thousands of data breaches investigated by the FBI. Because companies that suffer from data breaches fear bad publicity, they often fail to report the crime to the FBI, or wait so long that it becomes nearly impossible to track down evidence. When data theft goes unreported, the hackers are free to continue targeting more companies. And since large companies have finally begun to strengthen their data security, hackers have responded by targeting smaller companies that have fewer resources to prevent cybercrime. Since these breaches are smaller, they are less likely to be reported by the press.

If your data is compromised in a large and public data breach, you may be offered a year or two of free credit monitoring or identity theft protection. But if your Social Security data or bank account information is stolen from a small company, you may never even know. In fact, the small company itself may not become aware of the breach for months or years. To proactively safeguard your own identity, consider investing in credit report monitoring or identity theft protection before your data falls into the wrong hands.