You may have heard about the recent discovery of a massive data leak that exposed more than 26 billion records online, including personal information from sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Adobe, and Wattpad. This leak, dubbed as the ‘Mother of All Breaches’ (MOAB), is one of the largest and most comprehensive data breaches of all time.
Its been nearly 10 years since all my personal information was stolen by China's Ministry of State Security spy agency along with 22 million other records directly from the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Anyone who had undergone background checks for things like a security clearance had their personal information compromised. I’m fortunate to have had very few issues because of a few simple things anyone can do to protect themselves. TL; DR – do this one simple thing, freeze your credit at all three agencies. Back in 2015 this used to cost money, in fact I spent alot every year to protect my information, but now its all free. If you do only one thing, take advantage of this free service, the small amount of time it will require pales in comparison to any form of identity theft.
The MOAB is not the result of a single hack, but rather a compilation of multiple breaches, leaks, and privately sold databases. The owner of the data is unknown at this point, but it is likely someone with malicious intent or a data broker who was collecting data from various sources. The data contains not only credentials and personally identifiable information, but also sensitive information such as hobbies, interests, and preferences which can be used by hacker programs to guess everything from challenge questions to passwords.
This means that anyone who has access to the MOAB can easily target you with phishing, credential-stuffing, identity theft, and other cyberattacks. The MOAB also poses a serious threat to your online privacy, as your personal data can be used to profile you, track you, and manipulate you.
So, what can you do to protect yourself from the MOAB and other similar data breaches?
Here are some tips:
• Change your passwords. If you use the same password for multiple accounts, change them immediately. Use a strong and unique password for each account, and use a password manager to store and generate them securely.
• Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA adds an extra layer of security to your accounts by requiring a code or a device to verify your identity. This way, even if someone has your password, they can’t access your account without the second factor.
• Be wary of phishing emails and messages. Phishing is a common technique used by hackers to trick you into revealing your personal information or clicking on malicious links. Don’t open attachments or click on links from unknown or suspicious senders, and always check the sender’s address and the URL before entering any information.
• Monitor your online accounts. You can also use services like Have I Been Pwned to see if your email address has been compromised in any data breach. Additionally, you can request a free credit report from the major credit bureaus and look for any signs of identity theft or fraud.
• Don’t just Monitor… FREEZE your credit reports. As stated earlier this is now a free service
Data breaches are becoming more frequent and severe, and the MOAB is a stark reminder of the risks we face online. The reality is that very soon online privacy will not exist in the forms we are attempting to provide today.
I’ve been fortunate to speak on how these events will affect the future, and my opinion is that we are very close to reaching the point where effectively all Personally Identifiable Information will be compromised. The next phase of protection will be completely different as this forced transparency of our information will completely change the way we identify ourselves and interact with the economy. Message me to hear more about the next phases of cybersecurity protections and identity management.
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