{"id":15253,"date":"2021-05-04T07:28:20","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T07:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.openbusinesscouncil.org\/?p=15253"},"modified":"2021-05-04T07:28:20","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T07:28:20","slug":"average-cost-of-a-customers-personal-identifiable-information-pii-is-175-per-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.footballthink.com\/average-cost-of-a-customers-personal-identifiable-information-pii-is-175-per-record\/","title":{"rendered":"Average Cost Of A Customer\u2019s Personal Identifiable Information (PII) Is $175 Per Record"},"content":{"rendered":"
A recent data breach exposed the information of 500 million LinkedIn users, and the same number was affected by the\u00a0Facebook leaks few weeks prior<\/p>\n
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Businesses ask for excessive customer data to provide services, but existing system vulnerabilities show that they frequently don\u2019t live up to cybersecurity expectations. Companies shouldn\u2019t leave customers out of the picture because carelessness with data increases the chances of identity theft.<\/p>\n
The breach, which allegedly happened before August 2019 and was recently published, affected 533 million Facebook users in 106 countries \u2014 exposing their Facebook IDs, names, locations, birthdates, and email addresses. A day later, a LinkedIn user database showed up on the hacker\u2019s forum, including similar information and victim workplaces.<\/p>\n
Cybercriminals managed to obtain data using a method known as scraping. Exposing system vulnerabilities, they launched a bot to collect any data on the table. In Facebook\u2019s case, they turned to a now-defunct feature that allowed users to find friends by phone number. It seems that the hackers also leveraged some previously-known LinkedIn data breaches to scrape personal information.<\/p>\n
IBM estimates that the average cost of a customer\u2019s\u00a0Personal Identifiable Information (PII) is $175 per record. Given this, the overall value of Facebook and LinkedIn databases would be enormous. However, the price of each piece depends on the type of information and its usage.<\/p>\n
For example, cybercriminals demanded\u00a0a $42 million ransom\u00a0from a New York law firm after seizing 750GB of personal details on top-tier clients, including Lady Gaga and Madonna.<\/p>\n
Hackers can use compromised emails for scams and phishing campaigns. The latter is the most prevalent initial attack vector, allowing criminals to get a foothold on the victim\u2019s network. Contact information can also end up in grey-zone marketers\u2019 hands, who use it in their email campaigns.<\/p>\n
The more information hackers have about the victim, the harder it is to identify an attack and stay vigilant. Sometimes publicly available information on marital status, children, employment, and leisure activities can give victims the impression that fraudster\u2019s claims are indeed legitimate.<\/p>\n
Contact and personal information together with social security numbers are precious for tax-season scammers. They apply for false tax returns, stealing\u00a0$27 billion every year, targeting both citizens and enterprises.<\/p>\n
\u201cData is a digital asset: marketers use it to find their audience, developers adopt software products examining user patterns, and artificial intelligence ensures our lives remain convenient.<\/p>\n