A data breach is any incident where confidential or sensitive information has been accessed without permission. Breaches are the result of cyberattacks where criminals gain unauthorized access to computer systems or networks and steal the private, sensitive and/or confidential personal and financial data of the customers or users contained within. The U.S. Department of Justice defines a breach as “the loss of control, compromise, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized acquisition, access for an unauthorized purpose, or other unauthorized access, to data, whether physical or electronic.” Our law firm views breaches as events which usually would not have happened but for inadequate cyber security protocols. With the advent of cloud computing and increased digital storage, data breaches are more prevalent now than ever, often impacting millions of consumers in just one attack on a company, and whereby cybercriminals can access any of the following:

Customer, patient and user names

Addresses

Telephone numbers

Email addresses

Passwords

Medical health records

Credit Card numbers and security codes

Banking and other financial information

Once threat actors have breached your data environment, they will search for any valuable information they can find. You can easily lose money, credit, private/sensitive information, livelihood and peace of mind. Cybercriminals don’t care if you “deserved” it. If it’s accessible, they’ll steal your sensitive financial and health information.