Another day, another data breach

[deuce]

This time from a company called Alteryx.

As for the data itself: The file contains 123 million rows of data, one for just about every single household in the U.S. at the time of its likely creation in 2013. And each of those households is individually described via 248 specific categories.

In addition to the data listed above (address, phone number, whether you’re a dog or cat person, etc.), other categories include the number of children living in the house, and their age ranges and gender; what types of magazines you subscribe to; your mortgage amount; how old your car is; which causes you donate to; your ethnicity; and plenty more.
​

 

[Nate]

This time from a company called Alteryx.

As for the data itself: The file contains 123 million rows of data, one for just about every single household in the U.S. at the time of its likely creation in 2013. And each of those households is individually described via 248 specific categories.

In addition to the data listed above (address, phone number, whether you’re a dog or cat person, etc.), other categories include the number of children living in the house, and their age ranges and gender; what types of magazines you subscribe to; your mortgage amount; how old your car is; which causes you donate to; your ethnicity; and plenty more.
​

But yet we're all worried about Apple slowing down older phones. This is a problem and no one seems to be worried about it.

 

[deuce]

But yet we're all worried about Apple slowing down older phones. This is a problem and no one seems to be worried about it.

I think it's possible to be pissed off about both. However, I left Apple universe a few months back (and don't miss it) ... so this pisses me off more. In the digital age, we're all just cattle. Thanks to the Equifax breach, I locked my credit. Hopefully I remember where all my passcodes are to reactivate it when I need something that involves a credit check.

 

[Nate]

I think it's possible to be pissed off about both. However, I left Apple universe a few months back (and don't miss it) ... so this pisses me off more. In the digital age, we're all just cattle. Thanks to the Equifax breach, I locked my credit. Hopefully I remember where all my passcodes are to reactivate it when I need something that involves a credit check.

You can be pissed about both but if this continues to happen (and gets into the wrong hands) you could see mass damage done to tons of people. It's a real problem that no one seems to have an answer for. The response, "We won't let it happen again" is not acceptable.

 

[deuce]

You can be pissed about both but if this continues to happen (and gets into the wrong hands) you could see mass damage done to tons of people. It's a real problem that no one seems to have an answer for. The response, "We won't let it happen again" is not acceptable.

Personally, I think people need to be brought up on criminal charges over stuff like this. Just because no physical harm is done to people isn't a reason to think this is a victimless issue. For me, it's been a huge inconvenience, and I haven't been a victim of identity theft. I can only imagine the headache, stress, and financial ruin that being an actual target brings with it. Something definitely needs to be done, yesterday.

I'm not sure why protections similar to HIPAA can't be applied to financial data.

 

[sleuth]

This time from a company called Alteryx.

As for the data itself: The file contains 123 million rows of data, one for just about every single household in the U.S. at the time of its likely creation in 2013. And each of those households is individually described via 248 specific categories.

In addition to the data listed above (address, phone number, whether you’re a dog or cat person, etc.), other categories include the number of children living in the house, and their age ranges and gender; what types of magazines you subscribe to; your mortgage amount; how old your car is; which causes you donate to; your ethnicity; and plenty more.
​

This is a problem in most/all cloud services. Companies are using AWS, G-Suite, Microsoft Azure, etc. think it's a great way to monetize their business and services without realizing they have awful security measures.

During the AWS Conference in Vegas a few weeks ago Amazon did release news of a new tool called GuardDuty that is a threat detection service utilizing machine learning. Will this plug the current security holes? I'm really unsure. The statistics on how well companies manage Data governance is simply shocking.

 

[SquirrelyDave]

Personally, I think people need to be brought up on criminal charges over stuff like this. Just because no physical harm is done to people isn't a reason to think this is a victimless issue. For me, it's been a huge inconvenience, and I haven't been a victim of identity theft. I can only imagine the headache, stress, and financial ruin that being an actual target brings with it. Something definitely needs to be done, yesterday.

I'm not sure why protections similar to HIPAA can't be applied to financial data.

Because they have better lobbyists and people don’t see it as the issue it is.

 

[tahoebum]

I think it's possible to be pissed off about both. However, I left Apple universe a few months back (and don't miss it) ... so this pisses me off more. In the digital age, we're all just cattle. Thanks to the Equifax breach, I locked my credit. Hopefully I remember where all my passcodes are to reactivate it when I need something that involves a credit check.

Equifax is the only credit bureau you can’t unlock if you forget your pin. To get a new pin we just had to send a request by snail mail with copies of drivers licenses and birth certificates.

Between social media, google, smartphones, and online shopping, etc., nothing is truly private about anyone in today’s world.

 

[sleuth]

But yet we're all worried about Apple slowing down older phones. This is a problem and no one seems to be worried about it.

I just don't think people understand the subject matter, so they don't really understand whether they need to worry or not. And to be honest, Identity and Data Governance is not an easily consumed subject so I can understand the angst or confusion.

A good Identity and Data Governance solution is an expensive venture for companies and that's why most don't practice it or fall incredibly short. Unfortunately there are no Cloud Governance systems, and all Governance initiatives are still reactive meaning you'll never know about a breach until after it happens.

This is a very big problem. With more applications being onboarded into systems and networks, applications moving to cloud, and the continual collection of data there will be more holes and likely more breaches to come.

 

[campilobaxter]

This time from a company called Alteryx.

As for the data itself: The file contains 123 million rows of data, one for just about every single household in the U.S. at the time of its likely creation in 2013. And each of those households is individually described via 248 specific categories.

In addition to the data listed above (address, phone number, whether you’re a dog or cat person, etc.), other categories include the number of children living in the house, and their age ranges and gender; what types of magazines you subscribe to; your mortgage amount; how old your car is; which causes you donate to; your ethnicity; and plenty more.
​

While I'm not excited about a data breach, this just sounds like someone stole a bunch of data that was already available for sale.