In the News
Not the cookies! In Girl Scouts Issues Data Breach Warning to 2,800 Members, Tara Seals at Threat Post discusses a recent data exposure at a California branch of the Girl Scouts which may have been exploited to send phishing emails and to obtain personal information regarding Girl Scout members. Seals elaborate that the exposure occurred when a single email account was breached. Seals also explains that malicious attackers target a vulnerable audience of minors because they are easy targets for creating fraud accounts that may not be caught for many years.
Our Take
While phishing schemes and identity theft attempts are unfortunately quite common, the increasing occurrence of such malicious attacks targeting a younger and younger audience is cause for alarm. The internet and online accounts continue to be used by more and more adults, teenagers, and children. Individuals, including many children, are putting vast amounts of their personal information into the internet without serious thought as to where such information is stored and what might happen if the information falls into the wrong hands. It is true that many people and many companies are prioritizing developing an understanding of safe online practices, this education is not as common in younger internet users. Creating an online account takes mere minutes, and it is important for all internet users to take a step back and think: Why am I sharing this information? Additionally, it is crucial for parents and guardians to educate the younger generations on how to follow safe online practices to protect their identity and their financial future.
Recommendations
How can you protect your (or your friends’ and family’s) personal information online?
- Understand the risks of putting your personal information into the world, and only share what you have to
- Know the signs of an email scam and know how to act if you are affected
- Minimize the number of accounts that have direct access to your bank account or card numbers
- Don’t reuse your account passwords, and take advantage of multi-factor authentication where possible.
- Stay up to date on the news regarding recent fraud and phishing attacks to see if you may have been affected