Data Breach: protective measures & how to minimise the impact on you
Identity compromise can be an unfortunate outcome of data breaches. Breaches are complex and challenging to manage, with even the biggest businesses being vulnerable. This has fuelled our desire to educate our members on how to protect themselves.
When your identity is stolen, fraudsters can apply for credit cards and loans in your name. Checking in with your credit score is an easier way to spot fraud. Credit Savvy goes one step further by helping you to request a ban on your Credit Report and track suspicious activity.
There have been 900 reported data breaches in 2021 alone. Some of the other major breaches since 2020 include:
- Service NSW Data Breach in April 2020 impacting 104,000 people
- ProctorU in July 2020 impacting 444,000 people
- GoDaddy in November 2021 impacting up to 1.2 million people
- Facebook in April 2021 impacting up to 533 million users worldwide
To protect your personal information online, here are some steps you can take:
- Limit the amount of personal information you share over social media
- Avoid using the same password in different platforms or sharing passwords with others
- Check for and install your device software updates regularly
- Use multi-factor authentication, an additional layer of information to prove your identity, often in the form of a code or PIN, sent to you via text message or in an authenticator app on your device
- Use a password manager to set strong and complex log in details
Data breaches have both short-term and long-term effects. It can cause significant financial loss and can damage the financial freedom of an individual. For organisations, a breach may posses a serious danger to the company’s reputation.
If you are informed that you have been a part of a data breach, there are certain steps that you can take to minimise the impact.
- Find out how you are affected to understand which types of data are under risk
- If your log in details have been compromised, reset all accounts linked with this information
- Contact IDCare on 1800 595 160 or use their free Cyber First Aid Kit for more steps you can take
- Confirm all communications about data breach with an official source by the organisation, before taking any action, such as providing your log in details over emails
- If your personal information and identity documents have been compromised, consider if requesting a ban on your credit report through SavvyShield is right for you
Download the Credit Savvy app to activate SavvyShield if you are suspecting identity theft.
For more information on identity theft, check out the and .