Since the middle of 2016 approaches, data breaches are still a focus of attention American companies like LinkedIn, Wendy and others describe intrusion and cope with the resulting fallout. Then across the pond, the European Union is implementing the Regulation on the protection of the general data, the US government has not adopted any significant laws that impact the reporting of data breaches at federal level. Currently, 47 states and the District of Columbia operate under their own laws regarding notification of data breach (with Alabama, New Mexico and South Dakota being the odd out statements). Since the US government has a lot of information security problems of its own, it is not surprising that there was no general agreement yet on legislation that would impact the entire countries, but that is not for lack of trying. The Law on sharing information on cyber security (CISA), signed into law by President Obama in December 2015 business impacts, but a bill for the laws of single breach notification is still pending while lawmakers argue the details. Meanwhile, violations still occur, and it is important for citizens to stand with what is happening and how it could impact them. Here are three tracks data breach that you should know.
LinkedIn data breach numbers much higher than originally reported
Remember the massive violation of LinkedIn data in 2012? At the time, it was reported that 6.5 million account passwords were exposed after a list has been assigned to a hacker forum. Unfortunately, the new data retrieved from another source indicates that the number of accounts compromised in the breach is exponentially more - totaling 176 million accounts. Therefore, LinkedIn requires supposed to be affected accounts to reset their passwords (but not all accounts on its website). If you change your LinkedIn password since 2012, chances are, your account is more or less certain - but it does not hurt to change your password anyway, just in case. Frequent password changes are a way to stay ahead of future pirates.
It is believed that the initial list of 6.5 million passwords were those that the attacker could not crack while most others were easily stumped out. An analysis of data shows that of the 176 million records, more than 2.2 million includes the same 50 passwords easy to guess. Some of the results identified the top 30 passwords include "123456", "Princess," "abc123" and mind boggling "linkedin." As we have repeatedly stressed, convenience should never overshadow security regarding create passwords for your accounts, and it is a particularly bad choice to make your password the name of the site connect to itself. It is also important to never reuse passwords, especially with regard to sensitive accounts such as online banking, e-mail and other financial accounts.
Wendy violated survey identified 300 sites were affected
The answers finally arrived after finishing the investigation of the credit card breach potential fast food chain Wendy at several locations across the country. Initial reports that something had happened came to the end of January, thanks to banks and tipping credit unions out cyber blogger Brian Krebs. Wendy confirmed that less than 300 of its 5,500 franchise stores were affected by malicious software installed on a particular point of sale system, burying the update in its first quarter press release May 11 The company said that the POS system used by the majority of its sites was not affected, and added that so far about 50 locations had independent safety issues unresolved. Violation first started in autumn 2015 and while Wendy said it has removed all malware in the affected areas, it always pays to customers who visited the site of a Wendy in the last year to keep an eye on their credit card statements or debit.
Noodles & Company survey of data breaches O'Charley
Restaurant lovers can not seem to take a break, and those who are fans of Noodles & Company and should take O'Charley knowledge, the two chains are currently investigating breaches of their POS systems. Noodles & Company has received reports of unusual activity on May 16 about the potential credit card fraud linked to its systems, and is investigating the matter right now with the application of the law. The fraud was detected on the maps used in various locations (Noodles & Company 500 locations across the United States) between January 2016 and now.
O'Charley another national chain restaurant, notified its customers of a payment card incident on May 20. The information obtained by criminals who have installed malicious software on some systems development sales at O'Charley of locations included data from magnetic strips on the cards - the names and card numbers, etc. Customers who have used their credit cards in restaurants between March 18, 2016 and April 8, 2016 have been affected. All regions, except for restaurants O'Charley located at 930 Windham Court, Boardman, Ohio in 2077 and Interchange Drive Erie, Pennsylvania and restaurant O'Charley located in the Nashville International Airport are believed involved.
Protect yourself against data breaches
By this point, most people in the US have probably been victim of at least one data breach, if not multiple. It can be easy to grow complacent about the dangers because of what is happening so often, but it is imperative that you do not. By taking steps such as thoroughly review your statements debit and credit cards to look for fraudulent charges, regularly displaying your credit reports and even freeze your credit can help you protect. Another option to consider is signing up for a service protection against identity theft, which will help you monitor your credit reports and inform you of any change detected. In addition, these services also monitor the Internet black market (or dark web) for your personal information, as this is where the majority of stolen data in violations winds.
For more information on how these services can help, visit our identity notice of protection against theft. Follow our blog data breach for more tips and news about what is happening in the world of cybersecurity.