For immediate release:
Friday, January 26, 2024
contact:
Nazneen Ahmed (919) 716-0060
(Raleigh) Attorney General Josh Stein today released the North Carolina Department of Justice’s 2023 Data Breach Report in advance of Data Privacy Day on January 28th. In 2023, more than 4.9 million North Carolinians were affected by a record 2,033 data breaches. The report can be viewed here.
“So much of our lives and personal information resides online,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “We need to take every precaution to protect our data, and companies that access our data need to take every precaution as well. If companies fail to protect people’s information, my Our office will have no hesitation in holding companies accountable.”
In North Carolina, businesses and organizations that are victims of a data breach are required to report the breach and the compromised information to the North Carolina Department of Justice. Here are some helpful tips on how to protect your devices and network from data breaches.
- Regularly update antivirus and security software on your phone and computer. Don’t forget about other smart devices like watches, TVs, and tablets.
- Don’t open emails, click links, or download attachments from unverified senders.
- Please check your email carefully before acting. Do you think the email address, subject and content, attachment or link is genuine? Did it come from someone you know or an email address you know? , please contact the company or representative directly.
- Use strong passwords and change your passwords and security questions regularly.
- Use different passwords for different accounts and websites so that if one is compromised, you won’t be able to access your other accounts.
- Don’t use public Wi-Fi to shop, access your bank account, or log into websites that contain personal information. Public Wi-Fi networks are not secure and are susceptible to attacks by hackers.
- Make a plan for how you or your organization will respond to a ransomware attack. Be sure to include a plan for how to properly notify employees, customers, and others whose data you store.
If you think you may have been the victim of a hack, request a free security freeze and contact our office to monitor your credit report and bank accounts for errors and fraud. For more information, please visit www.ncdoj.gov/securityfreeze.
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