As digital activity soared in the U.S. in 2020, cybercriminals pounced on opportunities to hack a large group of victims at once. Experts say there has never been a better time to guard your personal information with an identity protection plan. Below are some alarming findings in 2020:
By the second quarter, the number of records exposed containing personal identifiable information in 2020 was more than 4x higher than any previously reported period.
Identity theft is the most common consequence of a data breach, occurring 65% of the time. .
86% of global consumers fall victim to identity theft and fraud as online shopping increases. In the U.S. there were close to 1.4 million reports of identity theft in 2020.
Fraud losses climbed to $56 billion in 2020. This is big climb from 2019, when the losses were reported as $16 million.
Social media users are at a 46% higher risk of identity theft, for people using Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Cybercriminals actively target people on these platforms by embedding links with malware such as keyloggers that download to your device and steal everything you type.
Account takeovers were trending at the highest loss rate in 2020, increasing by as much as 72% over the prior year. 40% of fraud happens within 24 hours of account takeover. Cybercriminals are able to gather information such as passwords without ever getting detected, making it much easier to takeover an account.
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