by Lindsay Pietroluongo
In this article, we’ll discuss password leaks, data protection technologies and best practices for data protection to keep your information safe online.
Social Catfish, an online dating investigation service in California — and a leader in online identity verification and scam prevention — found that 49% of email passwords have been leaked to the web and can be found online by scammers, according to a press release sent to NetReputation by the company.
Social Catfish found that of more than 8,100 users who entered their email address into their Guess Your Password tool, 49% of them found their passwords online, which means that scammers also have access to this personal and sensitive data. Guess Your Password lets users check if their password has been leaked online.
Data and password leaks leave people vulnerable to all sorts of online scams and data security issues.
Phishing, extortion and identity theft fall within the top eight types of internet crimes reported. Phishing makes up the highest percentage of internet scams, with 298,878 phishing complaints reported last year.
In 2023, more than 880,400 internet scam complaints were received, resulting in $12.5 billion in losses. There’s been an increase in personal data breaches, too. In 2023, data breaches cost Americans $744 million, compared to $517 million in 2021.
Read on to learn about data protection strategies to safeguard your sensitive data, including around-the-clock monitoring for continuous data protection even while you sleep.
At NetReputation, we work with individuals and businesses to help them build and take control of their online presence. Give us a call at 844-461-3632 or fill out the form below to learn more.
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Personal Information and Identity Theft: What’s the Connection?
Your personal information is directly linked to the risk of identity theft, as it’s the most important sensitive data that a cybercriminal can get their hands on.
Your personal data includes:
- Full name
- Date of birth
- Home address
- Phone numbers
- Email address
- Driver’s license number
- Passport number
- Social Security number
- Bank account details
- Credit and debit card numbers
- Health insurance information
- Medical records
- Tax ID numbers
This personal data can be used to verify your identity when making online transactions. That means that cybercriminals who have found out your personal information can pretend they’re you and make online transactions without you even realizing it.
Cybercriminals can obtain a person’s information through data breaches, phishing scams, unsecured networks and more. By not protecting your personal data online, you could end up dealing with credit damage, financial losses and other legal issues. On top of that, recovering from having your identity stolen is a long and stressful process.
Luckily, there are preventative data protection measures you can take.
NetReputation provides information and services to help you protect your digital presence. Call us at 844-461-3632 to learn more.
How To Protect Yourself From Online Scams: Data Protection Strategies
In general, reducing the amount of information you have online — or removing it completely — is the best way to prevent cybercriminals from accessing your data. Here are five crucial data protection principles to always follow.
Familiarize Yourself With Common Online Scams
While cybercriminals use a variety of advanced scams to find personal data online or trick people into handing over sensitive information, you can learn to recognize the most common tactics. Here are a few to watch out for to keep your personally identifiable information out of the wrong hands:
- Fake Online Stores: If there’s a discount that sounds way too good to be true from an online store you’ve never heard of, chances are the site is a scam and it’s an attempt to steal your important data.
- Phishing Emails: Fake emails that pretend to be from trustworthy sources, like your bank or a government agency, trick people into providing sensitive information to hackers. If you’re being asked for important data that you don’t normally have to give to someone, your alarm bells should go off.
- Tech Support Scams: Those frantic calls or pop-ups claiming that your computer has been infected with a virus are disorienting, but they’re usually fake, designed to get you to pay for a service that’s hiding the true intent of the cybercriminal.
Being aware of online risks is a critical component of data privacy. You could follow all of the other security measures we mention in this article, but if you willingly hand over your information because you’ve been tricked by a hacker, your data privacy could be ruined.
Secure Your Financial and Personal Information Online
You should never give your financial details, Social Security number or other important information over the phone or via email. If the person on the other end is asking for your data that way, this should raise a red flag.
Also, keep a close eye on your financial transactions. Check your bank statement regularly, and alert your financial institution if there are any transactions you don’t recognize.
Another smart data privacy best practice is to never save your payment details online. While having your credit card information stored on the websites you visit often is convenient, it can put you at risk if there’s a data leak.
Keep Your Children’s Information Private, Especially on Social Media
Commonly, people will use their child’s name and birthdate or birth year in their password combinations. If you’ve publicly posted your child’s name and birthdate on social media, cybercriminals can easily learn this information and use it to try to hack into your online accounts.
For example, let’s say you post a birth announcement on Instagram and say your baby’s name is Olivia and she was born on January 1, 2023. Password combination possibilities are “Olivia2023!” or “OliviaJanuary1*” — this makes it far too easy for seasoned hackers to guess your passwords.
Always Use Strong and Unique Passwords for Online Accounts
For the sake of data security, you should always create long, complex passwords for your online accounts. Combine letters, numbers and special characters in nonsensical ways that are nearly impossible to guess. To keep track of them all, use a password manager.
Also, don’t reuse passwords across accounts. You should never repeat a password. Instead, create a unique password for every login.
Set Up Two-Factor Authentication Whenever Possible
Two-factor authentication (2FA) adds a second layer of security for your logins. In addition to entering your password, you’ll have to verify your identity in a second way to log in. For example, a code may be sent to your phone. You’ll have to enter that code in order to gain access to your account.
Even if a cybercriminal is able to find out your password, they’re a lot less likely to actually access your account if 2FA is enabled. This feature is one of the best privacy and data protection measures available, and you should add it to every account that offers it.
Don’t Click On Random Email Links, Even if You Trust the Sender
If you get an email from a sender you don’t recognize or trust, never click on a link in the email, even if it doesn’t immediately look suspicious. If you want to go to the website — for example, the email looks like it was sent from your bank — open a new webpage and go to the site that way.
By accidentally clicking a phishing link, you could end up with malware on your computer, which can steal your personal information without you realizing it.
Monitor Your Online Presence Around the Clock With the Help of Tools
Regularly check your online accounts, social media, and Google search results for new information about you and suspicious activity. Data security tools like Privacy Lock from Social Catfish can continually scan the regular public web and the dark web for personal data about you.
In 2024, Privacy Lock saved 1,000 beta users over $3 million.
What Is Privacy Lock by Social Catfish?
Privacy Lock is Social Catfish’s new data protection service that offers the following benefits and features:
- 24/7 monitoring with real-time alerts if data is detected
- Scans both the public and dark webs for user data and photos
- Helps with removal of unwanted online data
- Ability to monitor for your family members
Privacy Lock data protection is free for Social Catfish subscribers or $14.99 for the standalone service.
You can take control of your online reputation right now, whether you’re working on your personal reputation or your professional digital presence. Call us at 844-461-3632 for more information.
How To Use Social Catfish’s Guess Your Password Tool
Earlier, we mentioned using Guess Your Password to find out if your email password has been exposed online. Start by going to the Check Your Password section of the Social Catfish website, which you can find here.
Enter your email address and click Check Now. After a few seconds, see if you’ve received the verification email.
Open the email and click the green Verify E-mail button.
Wait for the results email, which should be sent shortly. This email will give you your results and tell you if your password has been leaked online.
Data Management and Data Protection Tips for Businesses
Data management goes beyond protecting one’s personal data. Businesses also have to ensure that their data protection regulations are compliant, efficient and secure. Here are some of the top data protection principles that businesses should follow.
Create a Data Protection Policy
Every business should have a data protection policy with the following information:
- Who has access to certain types of data
- Policies about the collection, storage and disposal of data
- Ways to comply with data protection requirements, such as CCPA and GDPR
Your data protection policy should be available to everyone who works for your company, as well as your customers or clients. Additionally, you may want to appoint a data protection officer to answer questions about the policy and review it regularly to determine if changes should be made.
Backup Your Data Regularly
It’s smart to use the 3-2-1 principle of data protection:
- Make 3 copies of the data
- Use 2 different storage technologies
- Keep 1 copy of the data offsite
It’s also a good idea to automate data backups to your storage technologies so you don’t accidentally miss doing it.
However, something you should do manually is test data-recovery procedures. This ensures that your backups are running as they should and are accessible.
Set Up Appropriate Security Controls
A lot of data protection for businesses can be controlled through strong, reliable access controls.
Any employee who’s able to access critical data — like sensitive personal data about clients or protected information about business operations — should have multi-factor authentication (MFA) set up. Similar to 2FA, MFA requires at least two verification methods to access a resource.
Also, every employee should only have access to the data that’s important for their role. And you should be monitoring the access logs to immediately detect if there’s unauthorized activity.
Final Thoughts About How To Protect Data and Yourself From Online Scams and Password Leaks
The thought of having your personal information exposed to cybercriminals is terrifying. There’s so much that hackers can do if they get ahold of your information or the information of a loved one.
The good news is that financial and other losses can be mitigated by taking simple, practical steps for data protection.
At NetReputation, we provide a broad range of services to individuals and businesses who want to protect their digital reputation and online presence. Whether you’re prioritizing your personal or professional online reputation, our solutions and team of experts can help.
Take back control of your data. Give us a call today at 844-461-3632 or fill out the form below to speak with an expert.