Data breaches are a massive problem for just about everyone around the world. While you may see reports about data breaches primarily affecting U.S. citizens, just about every country has their share of cyberattacks.

For example, a data breach took place in France against two of the country’s service providers for medical insurance companies. The breach is the largest to ever affect France, as 33 million people had their information exposed in the incident. That comes out to just about half of the country’s population.

Data breaches are a problem for everyone. It’s why everyone needs to do whatever they can to protect their assets, regardless of where they live.

In this installment of the BlackCloak Thursday Threat Update, we’ll look at a pair of data breaches affecting Bank of America and Integris Health.

 

Bank of America reports data breach, sensitive information exposed

What we know: Bank of America has started to notify customers it experienced a data breach where sensitive information was exposed. As of now, at least 57,000 customers have been impacted by the incident, which allegedly took place last November. Compromised data points include customers’ names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and financial information.

Recommendations: Anyone who receives a data breach notification letter from Bank of America should place a credit freeze and fraud alert on their accounts as soon as possible. Additionally, affected customers should cancel current debit and credit cards to prevent any possible fraudulent transactions. Bank of America customers should keep an eye out on future developments regarding this incident, as it’s possible more people could be affected in the days and months ahead.

 

Integris Health breach affects 2.4M patients

What we know: Integris Health experienced a data breach affecting nearly 2.4 million people. Integris confirmed the breach took place last December, and that malicious actors said the stolen data would be sold to other cybercriminals starting on January 5th. Integris confirmed that names, dates of birth, contact information and Social Security numbers were compromised in the incident.

Recommendations: In its notice on the breach, Integris recommends placing credit freezes and fraud alerts on affected individuals’ accounts, as well as requesting a free credit report from the three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Integris has also set up a toll free phone number and an email address anyone can contact should they have questions regarding the breach. 

 

Don’t allow yourself to be an easy target

Cybercriminials often target major organizations housing a lot of sensitive information, but that doesn’t mean they won’t target you specifically. Plenty of cyber scams hone in on your personal device, and the valuable data that resides within. It’s why you should take the steps necessary to lock your device and accounts down and keep those scammers away.

 

Learn why you should make sure you stay on top of device software updates, and the importance of enabling two-factor authentication on all of your accounts.