Cybercriminals stole $16.8 billion worth of personal data in 2017

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Updated onMay 15, 2023

updated onMay 15, 2023

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Businesses’ efforts to combat fraud were not very successful in 2017 because it turns out thatcybercriminals stole $16.8 billion personal datalast year according to the latest researches.

A new identity study states that the number of victims increased by 8% in 2017 compared to 2016 and it reached 16.7 million people last year. This is, unfortunately, the highest number of victims since the phenomenon started to be measured about 15 years ago by the research companyJavelin Strategy & Research.

Fraud is becoming more complex

Embedded chip cards made it possible for the fraud to shift online, so it went beyond physical stores. Fraudsters are becoming more and moreadapted to the newest technologies, and they are continually improving their criminal techniques.

It seems that there’s a change in the way that fraud was committed last year because cybercriminals opened a massive number of intermediary accounts including e-commerce services on Amazon and email payments made via PayPal.

The Equifax data breach might be connected to the fraud

The same survey mentioned about says that the Equifax breach has something to do with what happened in 2017 – the fraud rose from 51% in 2016 to 69% in 2017. The Equifax breach is extremely dangerous for the victims because cybercriminals can use the stolen data to craft even more convincing campaigns for phishing. This is serious because phishing is blamed for 9 out of 10 data breaches.

Other severe examples of data breach areWannaCry contagionfrom May 2017 andGoldenEye/Petyaa few months after that.

General Data Protection Regulation will be implemented shortly, and businesses all over the world should considerenhancing their IT security as soon as possible.

Speaking of improving security, check out the following articles to learn how you can protect your online privacy:

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low#

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app#

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities#

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount#

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier#

Cybercriminals stole $16.8 billion worth of personal data in 2017#

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The Equifax data breach might be connected to the fraud#

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier

Cybercriminals stole $16.8 billion worth of personal data in 2017

Fraud is becoming more complex

The main findings of the fraud-related research

The Equifax data breach might be connected to the fraud