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Identity is Security: Anyone Can Be Hacked

This week, we learned nobody is off limits when it comes to a breach after the Orange County branch of the Girl Scouts of America was hacked. It’s not clear how it was done, but they said in a statement that an “unauthorized third party” compromised an email account, leading them to gain access to information on 2800 members, adults and girls.

While we are on the subject, there were several other bugs and breaches in the news this week. The first is a testament to how important patching your software is, as a flaw in the older versions of Microsoft Word, as late as 2016, could enable an attacker to embed malicious code inside the file. Radisson Hotels also experienced a breach, which exposed data for their rewards program, revealing personal data like names, emails and addresses. While no financial or password data was stolen, it’s a good reminder that nearly everything we do in our personal life (like traveling!) is potentially up for grabs by hackers.

So, then, the question at hand for many of us is: what is being done about it? How do we protect our data? Privacy conversations continue and these breaches don’t help the case for big companies to keep fighting regulations off, as they look to keep their thumb on how more privacy regulation is rolled out in the U.S. and beyond. As Congress grapples with legislating privacy, businesses are simply trying to figure out what their next play is in this evolving landscape where security and privacy intersect. Businesses are going to have to do something, legislation or not, as people become more concerned with what’s being done with their data.

Ultimately, it’s not always sunshine in cybersecurity, but in looking at what’s going on, knowledge is power, as they say. Seeing various examples of how or where our personal data can be exposed can only help us to be more vigilant as we traverse the digital world we now live in.

What did you read in cybersecurity news this week?


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