AARP Says 90 MIllion Americans May Have Exposure To Data Breaches In One Year

A new report from the AARP Public Policy Institute (PPI) states that from January of 2005 through May of 2006, 89.8 million Americans were potentially exposed to identity theft as a result of security breaches involving sensitive personal information. As security breaches at high profile institutions have made the public aware of the seriousness of this problem and more concerned about the safety of their personal information, PPI has analyzed the kinds of institutions most often experienced by security breaches and also the most common ways used to gain sensitive personal information.

The report, "Into the Breach: Security Breaches and Identity Theft," closely examined 244 publicly disclosed security breaches that took place from January 1, 2005 through May 26, 2006. It found that educational institutions were more than twice as likely to report a breach as healthcare organizations, financial services companies, corporations, and government agencies.

The report found that 40 percent of the publicly disclosed security breach incidents were caused by hackers or insider access specifically targeting sensitive personal information. Breaches caused by hackers or insider access put the personal information of 50 million individuals (making up 56 percent of all breach victims) at risk of identity theft.

"Security breaches have become all too common in our daily lives," said Dalmer Hoskins, AARP Managing Director of Public Policy. "And while safeguards are constantly being improved to protect personal information, it is also incumbent upon all institutions that experience a security breach to immediately alert those individuals in danger of identity theft so that they can take measures to further reduce that risk."

While companies across the country look for ways to protect private information from outside hackers, the report shows that much of the threat comes from within the walls of the institutions themselves. The report notes that of all the ways used to improperly gain or display personal information, 30% are the result of breaches from the inside.

posted by Consumer Help Web Editorial Team at 10:57 AM |