In today’s online age, identity theft and data breaches are more prevalent than ever. According to a recent report by Statista, the number of data breaches has significantly increased. For instance, the number of data breaches in the US rose from 447 in 2012 to more than 3,200 breaches in 2023.
The risk of having your personal information compromis
Identity theft can sound like something straight out of a Hollywood thriller. A mysterious hacker breaking into a bank account or a con artist slipping through airport security with nothing but a forged passport.
But in reality, identity theft is far less dramatic and far more common than movies make it seem. Every year, millions of people worldwide find th
In August 2024, National Public Data (NPD), a background check company, experienced a massive data breach that impacted around 2.9 billion records with sensitive information. Millions of people’s full names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, and addresses were all up for grabs on the dark web.
Faced with the overwhelming financial strain from numerous
Identity theft is one of those boogeymen of the internet age. It’s the stuff of hacker movies from the ‘90s: one day your keycard, bankcard and phone just stop working, then it turns out someone has taken over your life and is living large on your dime. Far-fetched, sure, but not completely divorced from reality.
How do you end up in an identity thief’s sig
Imagine being woken up late one Tuesday night by a phone call from your young relative. They’ve been in a car accident and urgently need money sent to their phone, not having their wallet on them. The connection is bad but it does sound like them. Still groggy and confused, you start making the transfer.
Only it’s not them calling you, they’re asleep, safe
So, your data was leaked by hackers. Well, you’re not the only one. We live in an era in which data breaches are a daily occurrence. And that’s both bad and good news. It’s bad for obvious reasons—no one wants to have their personal information exposed.
But here’s why it could be good news—it means the digital landscape is saturated with terabytes of data,
With so much of our lives now lived online, security is becoming an increasingly important consideration when using a browser. You don’t want third parties watching what you do and tracking where you go, but that’s almost certainly happening already. Thankfully there’s an easy way to combat this intrusive behaviour, by using
With increasingly advanced attacks on cybersecurity appearing all the time, it’s now pretty much essential to add effective protection for your online activities. One easy solution is a Virtual Private Network (VPN), as they are designed specifically to ensure privacy, while being very simple to set-up and use. They also have the significant advantages of letting you
In today’s online age, antivirus software isn’t just a good idea — it’s a necessity. With cyberthreats like malware and viruses lurking online, a strong antivirus acts as your first line of defense. It detects, blocks, and removes harmful software, protecting your devices and data from further harm.
There are many reasons you might want to “delete yourself” from the internet. From receiving frustrating amounts of spam to protecting yourself from carefully crafted scams fueled by the availability of personal data. But it goes much deeper than that.
Having your personal information floating around online leaves you more vulnerable to identity theft, a ty