Data Breach: Millions of South Africans' Personal Info Exposed!
The breach contains data of more than 30-million unique South African ID numbers, Tech Central reported.
A massive data bank containing millions of South Africans' personal information -- including property ownership, income and employment history -- has been discovered by information security researcher Troy Hunt, Tech Central revealed on Tuesday.
The massive data breach is also said to contain more than 30-million unique South African ID numbers.
According to Tech Central, the data drove was discovered among a large bank of other data breaches and the source can be identified as South African, based on the personal address details contained in the trove.
The breach, Hunt said, took place in March this year and contains information from as far back as the early 1990s.
Hunt says once the owner of the data is identified, he will upload the information to HaveIBeenPwned.com. According to Tech Central, some of the data headers suggest the source may be government or a commercial entity, although this remains unconfirmed.
Earlier this month, 143-million Americans are reported to have had their "most sensitive information" exposed following a breach at Equifax, one of the US's three major credit-reporting agencies.
Following the hack, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission launched investigations into whether the company had violated insider trading laws.
A massive data bank containing millions of South Africans' personal information -- including property ownership, income and employment history -- has been discovered by information security researcher Troy Hunt, Tech Central revealed on Tuesday.
The massive data breach is also said to contain more than 30-million unique South African ID numbers.
According to Tech Central, the data drove was discovered among a large bank of other data breaches and the source can be identified as South African, based on the personal address details contained in the trove.
The breach, Hunt said, took place in March this year and contains information from as far back as the early 1990s.
Hunt says once the owner of the data is identified, he will upload the information to HaveIBeenPwned.com. According to Tech Central, some of the data headers suggest the source may be government or a commercial entity, although this remains unconfirmed.
Earlier this month, 143-million Americans are reported to have had their "most sensitive information" exposed following a breach at Equifax, one of the US's three major credit-reporting agencies.
Following the hack, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission launched investigations into whether the company had violated insider trading laws.
7 ways to protect yourself from Identity theft
Identity theft is everywhere. Turn on your TV, and you’ll see “special reports” on how to prevent it. Turn on the radio, and hear ads for services pledging to protect you from it. Search for it on Google, and you get 140 million results. In fact there is one incident of identity fraud every three seconds.
Fortunately, there are some easy ways to lower your risk of becoming another ID theft victim. Here's how to protect yourself against ID theft...
1. Don’t over-share on social networking websites
2. Maintain anti-virus and anti-malware software
3. Handle financial documents with care
4. Create strong passwords
5. Be careful with unsecured Wi-Fi
6. Don’t be reeled in by phishing scams
7. Monitor credit and bank accounts closely
Identity theft is everywhere. Turn on your TV, and you’ll see “special reports” on how to prevent it. Turn on the radio, and hear ads for services pledging to protect you from it. Search for it on Google, and you get 140 million results. In fact there is one incident of identity fraud every three seconds.
Fortunately, there are some easy ways to lower your risk of becoming another ID theft victim. Here's how to protect yourself against ID theft...
1. Don’t over-share on social networking websites
2. Maintain anti-virus and anti-malware software
3. Handle financial documents with care
4. Create strong passwords
5. Be careful with unsecured Wi-Fi
6. Don’t be reeled in by phishing scams
7. Monitor credit and bank accounts closely
For further assistance, do not hesitate to contact us at The Computer Guyz in Cape Town or Centurion. Call 087 001 0511/2 or email contact@tcgcape.co.za
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