After a record year for cybercrime, little hope hackers will slow down

There is no calendar for cybercrime. Just one continuous cycle to steal data, identities and funds. A review of 2019 reveals how many incidents affected financial institutions either directly or indirectly.

San Diego-based Identity Theft Resource Center said, “It is important to spend a little time reflecting on the 2019 identity crimes, some of the things that went right in 2019 and the things that did not go as well. This is true for so many subjects, especially identity crime – which includes scams, fraud, data breaches, cybercrime and all of the other types of crimes that go with it.”

The ITRC observed 2019 saw continued fallout from 2018, which included the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica privacy fiasco; and Congress still at work on what to do about consumer privacy in the social media age. Also: “The news that phishing attacks more than doubled last year over the year before had researchers, businesses, lawmakers and consumers alike paying closer attention to the messages they receive.”

The ITRC also noted, “Accidental exposure breaches were a common 2019 identity crime for major-name companies, which happens when businesses store huge databases of private information – in an online server then fail to password protect it as an example.” Even entertainment was not safe, the center pointed out, as many apps and online gaming portals suffered data breaches traced back to reusing passwords on multiple sites.

 

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