Internet security has been a common topic in the news this year, and not just tech news. As more companies and individual users turn to the cloud to store data and to perform their everyday tasks, there are many more incidents involving security breaches. Security breaches are tracked by The Identity Theft Resource Center and for the first half of 2013, 301 security breaches have been reported. In this article, we will take a look at the top 10 security breaches of 2013.
Top 10 security breaches of 2013
- Facebook: 6 million users had their confidential information shared with others due to a software bug.
- Schnuck Markets: A hacker was able to penetrate the system and access over 2 million credit card numbers.
- Washington State’s Administrative Office of the Courts: Hackers breached the security and were able to gain access to over 1 million driver’s license numbers and around 160,000 social security numbers.
- The University of Florida in Gainesville: An employee that worked at a university medical practice was found to have ties with an identity-theft ring and may have gained access to confidential information on over 14,000 patients.
- RentPath: An independent contractor was able to steal hardware that had confidential information on over 56,000 people.
- TerraCom and YourTel America: A hacker was able to breach security and gain access to records of around 150,000 prospective customers. This information was allegedly then delivered to Scripps Howards News Service, although the company has denied this.
- Vendini: hackers were able to breach the security on the Vendini ticketing system, giving them access to financial data on nearly 23,000 customers.
- Idaho State University: Disabled firewall protection which resulted in a breach of security. The attackers were able to access information on around 17,500 patients. The university agreed to a $400,000 settlement with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
- City of Akron: Attackers were able to breach the security on the city’s website and internal systems, gaining access to confidential information including credit card numbers and social security numbers on over 30,000 residents. They also defaced the website.
- Piedmont HealthCare: A hacker was able to breach security and access social security numbers and other information on around 10,000 patients.
How to keep your data secure
In the instances above, you can see why it’s important to have the best security possible. In many cases, attackers just want to steal information, but in many other cases, they just want to cause mischief by deleting files and destroying data. Without a secure off-site backup system in place, you could lose valuable data such as confidential client information, sensitive company information, contracts, legal documents, project notes and documents, and much more.
If you utilize the backup features of cloudHQ, you can breathe a little easier knowing that your data is safe. CloudHQ does more than just sync cloud services together, it also provides a complete secondary copy of your data which can be accessed and restored in seconds if something happens to any of your data.
If you experience a security breach and your data is deleted, you can simply login to the backup account, restore your data, and continue working. If you or an employee accidentally deletes files and they become unrecoverable, you can simply grab the copy from the cloudHQ backup account, and continue working. If you have to fire or discipline an employee, you should revoke their access as they may wish to get revenge by accessing the account and deleting data. But in case of an oversight, cloudHQ is there to offer you the full protection you need when you deal with confidential and sensitive information.