Data breaches hurt both individuals and organizations by compromising sensitive information. For the individual who is a victim of stolen data, this can often lead to headaches: changing passwords frequently, enacting credit freezes or identity monitoring, and so on.

What are the risks of a data breach?

Some common types of risk are identify theft, discrimination and reputational damage to the people whose data has been breached. You need to find out what has happened in your situation and decide if it was the result of human error, a system error, a deliberate or malicious act or something else.

What can a data breach do?

A data breach might involve the loss or theft of your Social Security number, bank account or credit card numbers, personal health information, passwords or email. A data breach can be intentional or accidental. A cybercriminal may hack the database of a company where you've shared your personal information.