Data Breaches Fell in 2020, but Identity Thieves Still Raked in Billions
Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Based on what we know so far, hackers didn't steal as much personal data in 2020 as they did in previous years, but that doesn't mean they weren't able to make plenty of money. According to a report released Thursday by the Identity Theft Resource Center, hackers and identity thieves used stolen passwords and personal information to profit in new ways from your information.
[...] These trends show that it's currently more lucrative for criminals to find new ways to make money off previously stolen data or to carry out ransomware attacks than it is to steal loads of consumer data and try to sell it on the black market, [said] Eva Velasquez, president and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center. "This is not the time for complacency," she added.
[...] There are some big caveats in the numbers, however. Breaches we haven't learned about yet may crop up if, for example, we learn the SolarWinds hacks that affected hundreds of companies and government agencies led to breaches of personal information. And 2020 was hardly a banner year for curbing cybercrime. Like many of us in the pandemic, criminals hunkered down and made the best of what they had on hand in 2020.
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