Data breaches are threatening the security of more U.S. consumers, according to a survey released by The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company (HSB), part of Munich Re, with more than a third reporting that their personal information was exposed.
According to an annual report by the Identity Theft Resource Center, the number of U.S. data breaches tracked in 2018 decreased from last year’s all-time high of 1,632 breaches by 23 percent (or 1,244 breaches), but the reported number of consumer records exposed containing sensitive personally identifiable information jumped 126 percent from the 197,612,748 records exposed in 2017 to 446,515,334 records this past year.
Three-quarters of consumers would stop engaging with a brand online following a breach and half would not sign up for an online service that had recently been breached, a new survey shows.
Despite almost half of U.S. consumers (49 percent) believing their security habits make them vulnerable to information fraud or identity theft, 51 percent admit to reusing passwords/PINs across multiple accounts such as email, computer log in, phone passcode, and bank accounts.
The 2018 Identity Fraud Study by Javelin Strategy & Research, revealed that the number of identity fraud victims increased by eight percent (rising to 16.7 million U.S. consumers) in the last year, a record high since Javelin Strategy & Research began tracking identity fraud in 2003.
