Year of the Mega Data Breach

A data breach is defined as the intentional or unintentional release of secure information to an untrusted environment. All sorts of things can happen to your personal information once it falls into the hands of cyber criminals due to data breaches. Your information is typically sold on the black market along with the thousands or millions of other people’s information that was stolen.
The people who get ahold of your information can wreak havoc on your life, using your credit card information to buy things, and even stealing your identity to take out loans or new credit cards.
Close to 300 million people were affected by the five biggest data breaches of 2014. Each breach typically costs $3.5 million on average. Explore the infographic below to learn more about data breaches, and the effects they have.