Protect Your Customer’s Privacy

Data breaches have become a significant issue for businesses and consumers in recent years, with many high-profile incidents occurring in 2022. Here are some of the biggest data breaches that have taken place this year:

Neopets
In July 2022, hackers breached Neopets's database and stole the personal data of potentially 69 million users. The data stolen included users’ personal information such as names, usernames, email addresses, IP addresses, gender, date of birth, PIN for Neopets, hashed passwords, and information about the users’ pets and gameplay.

SuperVPN, GeckoVPN, and ChatVPN
In May 2022, attackers stole the personal information of 21 million users of networks SuperVPN, GeckoVPN, and ChatVPN. The stolen data was posted on a Telegram group where anyone could freely download it. This information included users’ full names, email addresses, countries, passwords, payment information, and account status.

Singtel Optus Pty Limited
In September 2022, Australian telecommunications company Singtel Optus reported a severe breach where possibly 9.8 million customers had their data leaked. Hackers may have exposed information that includes customers’ names, dates of birth, phone numbers, and email addresses. In addition, some customers’ addresses and identification document numbers (such as their driver’s licenses or passport numbers) were exposed.

Cash App Data Breach
In April 2022, mobile payment company Cash App reported that a former employee breached their data and downloaded the personal information of 8.2 million current and former customers. The hacker stole information that included customers’ full names, their portfolio values, stock trading information, and brokerage account numbers.

Twitter
In July 2022, an attacker compiled information from 5.4 million Twitter users due to a now-corrected system vulnerability. The attacker stole email addresses and phone numbers and connected them to user accounts.

Every company needs to be vigilant about privacy and security — regardless of size and industry.

These data breaches highlight the importance of businesses taking proactive measures to protect their customers' data. This involves keeping your security software up to date as well as implementing privacy protocols for your company.

What is the difference between data privacy and data security?

Data Privacy

Data privacy is the proper handling, processing, storage and usage of personal data. Consumers expect your business to protect their personal information. Lapero provides businesses with the tools they need including cookie consent banners, customizable legal agreements, privacy policies, and terms of service that comply with various regulations, including GDPR, CCPA, and CalOPPA.

Data Security

Data security is the policies, methods and techniques of protecting personal data from unauthorized access or malicious attacks. It includes the integrity of data, ensuring the data is accurate and reliable. Methods for securing data could be monitoring activity, multi-factor authentication and network security. 

What can you do to ensure you are compliant with data protection laws?

Overall, data breaches can have serious consequences for businesses and their customers. But businesses can take proactive steps to protect sensitive data and minimize the risk of a breach occurring. If you are interested in learning more about how Lapero can help your business stay compliant with data protection laws, contact us for a consultation.