The Weekly Breach Breakdown Podcast by ITRC - Beware the Breach - S5E16

Show Transcript

Welcome to the Identity Theft Resource Center’s (ITRC) Weekly Breach Breakdown for May 17, 2024. Thanks to Sentilink for their support of the podcast and the ITRC. Each week, we look at the most recent events and trends related to data security and privacy. This week, we discuss the most notable breaches from April, including the Kaiser data compromise.

April showers usually bring May flowers, but this time, it also brought a storm of data breaches. The ITRC tracked a whopping 308 data compromises last month, impacting nearly 34 million people. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan rained on everyone's parade with the top spot on the list. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Omni Hotels and Resorts also got caught in the downpour. In this episode, we take a closer look at the notable breaches last month and what you can do to protect yourself from the stormy weather of cybercrime.

April Notable Breaches

As just noted, in April, the ITRC tracked 308 data compromises, with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan at the top of the list, impacting approximately 13.4 million people. The breaches at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Omni Hotels and Resorts also affected over 11 million people.

Why You Do Not Need to Worry About the Kaiser Data Compromise

Although the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan data event affected millions of consumers, it was not a criminal breach. Instead, Kaiser was found to be sharing non-health-related information, such as names and IP addresses, with third-party vendors without permission. No data was stolen by cybercriminals, and impacted individuals are not at high risk of being victimized by this particular data event.

Data compromises can occur in many different ways; not all data events involve the theft of sensitive information. Some may involve the unauthorized sharing of personal information, as in the case of the Kaiser data compromise.

How to Protect Your Data

As more personal information is shared online, individuals should take steps to protect their data. This includes freezing your credit, using strong and unique passphrases, enabling two-factor authentication with an app, replacing passwords with passkeys when they are available, monitoring financial accounts for suspicious activity, and being cautious of phishing attempts and other scams. If you receive a data breach notice, follow the advice offered in the notice on top of taking the steps just mentioned.

Find the Latest Data Breach Information

If you’re looking for more information on recent data compromises or breaches, check out our notified database. Notified is a comprehensive database that contains information about publicly reported data breaches since 2005. This could be a valuable resource for consumers and businesses wanting to make informed decisions about personal and company data security. By using notified, you can review information on the latest publicly reported data compromises.

Contact the ITRC

If you want to know more about how to protect your business or personal information, think you were impacted by the Kaiser data compromise, or think you have been the victim of an identity crime, you can speak with an expert ITRC advisor on the phone, via text message, chat live on the web, or exchange emails during our normal business hours (Monday-Friday, 6 a.m.-5 p.m. PST). Just visit www.idtheftcenter.org to get started.

Thanks again to Sentilink for their support of the ITRC and this podcast. We will return next week with an episode of our sister, the Fraudian Slip, and in two weeks with another episode of the Weekly Breach Breakdown.