Customer data compromised on 19 of the top 100 websites

Over 16.7 million individuals were victims of identity theft in 2017, according to a report by Al Pascual from Javelin Strategy and Research.

United States citizens do not have an official identity card but has a social security number that works as a de facto identification number. A social security number is used for various purposes such as tax collection, applying for a driver's license, applying for a federal loan, etc. Getting access to an individual's social security number makes it easy to collect all documents related to that individual's citizenship. Thus enables criminals to steal his/her identity.

In 2016, more social security numbers were stolen by criminals than credit card numbers, resulting in losses worth $100 million. In 2018, a total of 51,000 individuals were victims of personal data breaches, and 16,000 citizens fell prey to identity theft.

Credit card information, if stolen, can be used to reconstruct an individual's identity. Criminals can use stolen credit card names and numbers to create fake identities. They might contact the bank on the issuing credit card and update the mail address of the account.

Citizens who are covered by an identity theft insurance are better equipped to deal with the recovery of stolen information and repairing their credit. According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), identity theft insurance costs between $25 and $50 per annum.

The following are a list of expenses typically covered under a typical identity theft Insurance

Legal costs

Credit monitoring services

Notary costs

Wages lost

Copies of credit card reports

Childcare costs

Direct financial losses are not covered under an identity theft insurance policy, barring some of the expenses of identity theft.

The most common route of identity theft is through spyware. Spyware transmits the user’s personal information to cybercriminals, including:

Usernames and passwords

Social security numbers

Bank account numbers

Credit card numbers

Personal address

Geographical location

Cybercriminals use such information, for example, to seek large loans under another’s name. Personal data can also be exposed if a website on which you have shared your personal information gets compromised. Zimlon has identified 19 of the top 100 websites that have been compromised. If you have had an account on one of these sites, chances are that your records have been stolen.

Company Name Date Records Stolen Comcast November 2015 · 590,000 customer email IDs and passwords · 27K home addresses leaked · Data sold on underground forums · Compromised accounts: 616,882 Cafe Mom 10 April 2014 · 2.6 million email addresses and passwords stolen CaféPress February 2019 · 23 million email IDs · Names · Physical addresses · Phone numbers · Passwords Snapchat 2nd January 2014 · 4.6 Million usernames and phone numbers exposed · Geographical locations of users exposed Linkedin 5th May 2016 · 164 million email IDs and passwords exposed · Data sold on the dark market Dropbox 1st July 2012 · 68 million usernames and passwords stolen · Credentials of customers stolen Yahoo 11 July 2012 · 4.5 million email IDs and passwords stolen Yandex Dump 7 Sep 2014 · 1.1 million usernames and passwords Mail.ru 8 August 2016 · 12.8 million user names and passwords xHamster 28 November 2016 · 377,377 usernames, email IDs and passwords Taobao 1 January 2012 · 21 million usernames, email IDs, and passwords GitHub Jan 2017 · 18 millon 8Tracks accounts breached Youporn 21 February 2012 · 1.3 million user accounts and passwords exposed Wordpress 4th November 2018 · Service used to host phishing site that collected user data Imgur 1st Sep 2019 · 1.7 million usernames and passwords stolen Tumblr 28 Feb 2013 · Email IDs and passwords of 65 million users breached Youku 1 December 2016 · 92 million email IDsand passwords were stolen Adobe 4 th October 2013 · 153 million usernames, passwords, and email IDs were breached.

Citizens who are covered by an identity theft insurance are better equipped to deal with the recovery of stolen information and repairing their credit. According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), identity theft insurance costs between $25 and $50 per annum.

The following are a list of expenses typically covered under a typical identity theft Insurance

Legal costs

Credit monitoring services

Notary costs

Wages lost

Copies of credit card reports

Childcare costs

Direct financial losses are not covered under an identity theft insurance policy, barring some of the expenses of identity theft.