The Frightening Truth About Identity Theft - 107+ Major Breaches In 2018

What is the scary truth? It's that it keeps happening and the breaches are getting bigger. It also appears to be nonstop at this point.

I know I keep harping on this whole identity theft/data protection thing, but as I dig more deeply into the research, I can’t help but continue to sound the alarm and encourage our clients, subscribers, friends and family to make sure they’re protected. I find it’s absolutely outrageous what’s going on out there.

In 2017, the world saw more data breaches than any year prior. Most noteworthy, on December 20th, the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) reported that there were 1,293 total data breaches, compromising more than 174 million records. That’s 45% more breaches than 2016. Did this disturbing trend continue in 2018?

I'll go into this more below, but I wanted throw in a plug for my the ID theft insurance provider I've used for years. I had an ID theft debacle back in 2011 and it would have been MUCH worse had I not had an identity theft insurance policy in place.

I know, like, trust, use and recommend Identity Force as my identity theft insurance provider.

The Ridiculous 2018 Data Breach List

In 2018 some of the largest data breaches to date including Marriott, Dunkin' Donuts and Under Armour. Here’s a  list from 2018 for you to ingest. 

Take a second to try and absorb the gravity of just how big this list is and how it’s growing. I was astounded to find Lifelock on this list at number 46! Aren't they supposed to be protecting us?!

1. VTech
2. Jason’s Deli
3. Aetna
4. CarePlus
5. Partners HealthCare
6. FedEx
7. BJC Healthcare
8. St. Peter’s Surgery & Endoscopy Center
9. Orbitz
10. ATI Physical Therapy
11. Under Armour
12. Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor
13. Panera Bread
14. Inogen
15. Unity Point Health
16. SunTrust Banks
17. City of Goodyear
18. Chili's
19. Rail Europe
20. Nuance Communications
21. University at Buffalo
22. LifeBridge Health
23. Aultman Health Foundation
24. TicketFly
25. MyHeritage
26. Dignity Health
27. Coinrail
28. Chicago Public Schools
29. Bithumb
30. Med Associates
31. Task Rabbit
32. Click2Gov - Midwest City
33. Exactis
34. Ticketmaster
35. Adidas
36. Timehop
37. Polar Fitness Trackers
38. Macy’s 
39. US Air Force
40. Nashville Metro Public Health
41. UMC Physicians 
42. (UMCP)
43. LabCorp
44. Boys Town National Research Hospital
45. ComplyRight
46. Lifelock??? - This one was shocking to me!
47. UnityPoint Health (2)
48. Reddit
49. TCM Bank
50. SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital
51. Adams County, WI
52. MedSpring Urgent Care
53. Instagram
54. Augusta University
55. Fortnite
56. Eastern Maine Community College
57. Legacy Health
58. Animoto
59. Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen
60. Sitter
61. T-Mobile
62. Air Canada
63. mSpy
64. Orrstown Bank
65. Foosackly's
66. British Airways
67. GovPayNow(dotcom)
68. MongoDB Server
69. Newegg
70. Independence Blue Cross
71. SHEIN
72. Chegg
73. Facebook
74. Toyota
75. Apollo
76. Central Main Power
77. Google+
78. Department of Defense
79. US Center For Medicare & Medicaide Services (CMS)
80. Cathay Pacific
81. Jones Eye Clinic
82. Raley's
83. Tomorrowland
84. HSBC Bank
85. Canada Post
86. Huntsville Hospital
87. Bankers Life
88. Nordstrom
89. Health First
90. US Postal Service (USPS)
91. Vovox
92. Amazon
93. Atrium Health
94. ElasticSearch
95. Dunkin'Donuts
96. Marriott
97. Signet Jewelers
98. Quora
99. Google+ (2)
100. City of Topeka
101. Baylor Scott and White Medical Center - Frisco
102. Facebook
103. Wright County, Minnesota
104. University of Vermont Health Network - Elizabethtown
105. Warby Parker
106. Sand Diego Unified School District
107. BevMo!

My jaw just dropped as I read this list (which can be found over at: https://www.identityforce.com/blog/2018-data-breaches). It’s just absolutely overwhelming in

What It All Means

"So, what does it all mean, Basel?" It means that our data is out there.

It means that the level of ineptitude of these large organizations that collect, store and are responsible or our data have little to no incentive (apparently) to lock down our personal information and are throwing us to the wolves. 

That in itself should be criminal, but since there’s not much we can do about it from an offensive perspective, there’s much we can do about it from a defensive perspective.

Let's focus on what you can do to protect yourself.

ID Theft Insurance And Why Admin/Recovery Is So Important 

Identity thieves will make a mess of your situation. You'll need a small team of people to help you make it right again.

At this point, you have to have identity theft insurance.

That's a given and very few would argue against it. But what many don't know is that that ID Theft Policy needs to have and Admin/Recovery element.

But, what is that and what does it mean?

An Administrative and/or Recovery clause in an ID theft policy means you'll have an actual team of folks at the insurance company that will do all the admin clean up for you when someone steals your identity and uses it for nefarious purposes like, filing a fraudulent tax return, opening a credit card or buying a car in your name.

The Clean Up Is The Real Nightmare

And, this “clean up” involves hours upon hours of calling the credit bureaus, banks, creditors, government entities, etc. to take care of any malicious activity that has occurred and to help clear you of any potential liability (i.e. debts incurred, fraudulent taxes filed) incurred as a result of your compromised identity.

I'm speaking from experience when I tell you that an ID theft policy with a great admin recovery feature is worth its weight in gold during your ID theft nightmare and Identity Force is the best.

They literally saved me over 100 hours of lost time from work/life by coming along side me during this disaster!

Why I Recommend Identity Theft Insurance Through IdentityForce

So, to ensure you’re not completely hosed by this list of 107 data breach and others’ data security ineptitude go ahead and get a policy in place. 

Yes, my ID theft debacle was terrible, but would have been MUCH worse had I not had an identity theft insurance policy in place.

I know, like, trust, use and recommend Identity Force as my identity theft insurance provider.

Here's a link to their program:

Like I mentioned before, Identity Force saved me more than 100 hours of "recovery" work when my identity was compromised. Again, the recovery work is really the most important element of the ID theft policy.

Whichever provider you choose for ID theft insurance, make sure that there is an "administrative" or "recovery" element to the policy.

This is important because with ID theft, you're rarely going to be on the hook for the charges a thief makes.

The real nightmare is always in the cleanup.

This entails calling all the credit rating agencies, dealing with taxing authorities, credit card companies, banks, etc.

The disruption to your life in the form of the hours you'll spend on the cleanup will be more than you can imagine.

3 Things To Keep In Mind

So, the moral of the story: get an ID Theft insurance policy as soon as possible. Don’t procrastinate on this. ID theft is real. It's not a scare tactic, it's just the truth.

Identity Force is a great provider for you to consider. You may have noticed the often quoted "LifeLock" as being on the above list. That's a little ironic, don't you think?

All that said, here are three things to keep in mind as you consider ID theft insurance.

1. Identity theft is rising.

Identity theft has become more and more common each year. For example, in 2014, 17.6 million Americans became victims of identity theft.(1) In 2017, hackers stole the personal information of nearly 148 million Americans in a single breach.(2)

What!!? This is outrageous, but it's also the new normal.

2. It’s not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when.

Even if you're careful about protecting your personal information, these companies' databases are under constant attack.

These hackers will steal your date of birth, address, debit card number, email address, and more.

3. Thieves can steal more than just your money.

Remember, there is more than one type of identity theft: financial, criminal, Social Security, medical, IRS.

The list keeps growing. Cleaning up the mess could take you hundreds of hours of work.

Now, do you have debt? Is it time to get the rest of your financial house in order? Let me introduce you to...

The 8 Steps To Obliterate Your Debt:

 

This is the blog post that outlines the 8 steps I followed to eliminated $43,000 in debt in 2.5 years.

 

 

And whether this is your first or thousandth time on the blog, I want to make sure you have this “8 Steps” framework that ALL of our content is centered around. 

 

These are the steps I personally followed to obliterate $43,000+ of debt in 2.5 years. 

 

Maybe your number is bigger, maybe it’s smaller. Either way the principles are the same and I want you to have them.

 

0. Stop All Retirement Investing (Until Step 4)

1. Build A Budget

2. Starter Emergency Fund of $1000

3. Eliminate Debts Smallest To Largest (a.k.a The Debt Snowball)

4. Full Emergency Fund of 3-6+ Months’ Expenses

5. Invest A Minimum of 15% Income Into Retirement Accounts (and increase savings rate to 50%+ if possible)

6. College Funding (if applicable)

7. Pay Off The Home Mortgage

8. Build Wealth, Serve, Be Ridiculously Generous And Go FI (Financial Independence)!

 

I’ve created a simple, easy to follow guide that you can use as your foundation as you navigate the absolute annihilation of your debt forever.

  

 

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When You Need More Help

And again, if you’re looking for some resources to get started, you can download our free budgeting forms. Also, if you’re in a place where you’re ready to kick your debt in the teeth, here's the link to our free “8 Steps To Erase Debt” guide for you to use as your foundation.

 

To your freedom,

 

Brad

[email protected]

 

 

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