When I first sat down to write this article, I thought there had only been two major data breaches in Australia this year (Optus and Medibank). How wrong was I? Check out the list of significant data breaches from Webber Insurance Services . Webber lists 57 breaches in 2022. Here are just a few of the most recent hacks:
Microsoft – October 2022: A data breach exposed customers’ contact details
Medibank – October 2022: A cyber-attack steals the personal data of around 4 million current and former customers. In November, around 10,000 customers’ data was released on the Dark Web after Medibank refused the hackers’ ransom demands
Woolworths MyDeal – October 2022: Data of 2.2 million MyDeal customers was exposed
Optus – September 2022: Customers’ personal details, including passport and licence information, exposed and purportedly offered for sale
Uber – September 2022: A teen hacker announces on chat software that they breached data
Twitter – August 2022: Personal details of millions of account holders compromised
So, what can we do if we think our data has been exposed by a hacker? And how can we protect ourselves from hackers?
This ABC News article provides plenty of helpful tips.
By: Suzanne Plater
Image: Courtesy Computing Australia