Last week, T-Mobile announced that an unidentified malicious intruder breached its network in late November and stole data on 37 million customers, including addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth.
Yes – you read that right – 37 million.
It’s distressing how casually announcements like this are made, and how most people barely take notice of them anymore. But for those in certain professions, like judges and police officers, having your address leaked can post a serious threat to the security of your home and your family's safety.
The number of professionals under threat has grown exponentially. It’s not just judges now, but also court clerks and other criminal justice personnel; it’s not only political candidates, but also election workers. Journalists and social workers also are at risk of violent repercussions for doing their job.
What Can You Do?
We can help – but the best way to limit the damage from these privacy hacks is to have already focused on limiting the amount of data available about you online. That’s what privacy protection does. If your information is leaked in a privacy hack and you had come to us first, you would already be significantly insulated from any negative consequences.
If it’s too late now, and you are one of those 37 million unfortunate T-Mobile customers, we can still help.
NordVPN, a partner in 360Civic’s prevention efforts that specializes in cybersecurity, has published an informative article on online privacy and how individuals and organizations can protect themselves once their information is exposed. Read it here.
We have a list of privacy tools and resources that can help you protect your privacy online, especially if you're an unfortunate victim of a data breach like this one.
Just remember: being a victim once does not mean you can’t be a victim again. How many places have your home address? Employers, retailers, insurance companies, banks, doctor’s offices, delivery services…they all get hacked. And when they do your home address and other private content will be leaked, shared, and sold.
Contact us about online privacy protection, or speak with your employer about providing this protection for everyone at your workplace.
