2014 Was Just The Beginning Of A Decade Of Data Breach

It seems that writers were a little quick to name 2014, “The Year Of The Data Breach,” as if were the only stand alone year in digital chaos. This is our world now. Our entire lives are online so naturally the criminals are too. We didn’t peak in 2014: This is the decade of data breach. Better yet, the millennia of data breach, because it’s not a problem that will go away anytime soon.

Jay Johnson wrote for Forbes that, “Data breaches dominated headlines in 2014,…While the cybersecurity plights of certain high-profile retailers, financial institutions, and one prominent movie studio became common knowledge and headline fodder, these companies were far from the year’s only victims.  In fact, a recent study found that more than 40% of companies experienced a data breach of some sort in the past year – four out of ten companies that maintain your credit card numbers, social security numbers, health information, and other personal information. That number is staggering, and shows no signs of retreat.”

Just today, five days into the New Year headlines are exploding with a possible security breach at Chick-Fil-A after the company noticed strange credit card activity in a number of restaurants. In a recent statement they said:

“We want to assure our customers we are working hard to investigate these events and will share additional facts as we are able to do so. If the investigation reveals that a breach has occurred, customers will not be liable for any fraudulent charges to their accounts — any fraudulent charges will be the responsibility of either Chick-fil-A or the bank that issued the card.  If our customers are impacted, we will arrange for free identity protection services, including credit monitoring.”

Since 2014 was the first year of real security breach, a glimpse into our future for years to come, it finally reset the bar for security standards. Unfortunately it took thousands of security breaches last year, and countless victims, to inspire lawmakers, business owners, and customers to take security seriously. 2014, if anything, has set a precedent to prevent and quickly handle security breach for businesses, it reminded politicians and lawmakers of the new era, and educated customers that things that are out of site, such as digital information, is not necessarily out of mind.

 

 

 

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2 Responses

  1. Elisha says:

    Wow, 40% of companies faced some sort of a data breach in 2014. I would hope this would show companies how important PCI Scanning is to their business and for the safety of their customers.
    After reading all of these articles online about data breaches I often am wondering if I should just start paying with cash for everything just to protect my self.

  2. Shannon Tuke says:

    I too have had the thought that maybe cash is the way to go. I just learned today in nursing school that hospitals are another target that hackers are hitting. There sure is a lot of important data found in a hospital and that is one place where I would think that my information is safe.

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