Data Breach of Supreme Importance
A data breach of supreme importance recently occurred at the Wagner Research Group. The personal information of over 2,000 of their clients was exposed. This would normally constitute a very small scale data breach compared to many recent incidents. What sets this incident apart is the individuals whose data was compromised. Most of these clients were upper level lawyers with a lot of power and money associated with their names. Among these was Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Bryer.
So how did identity thieves get access to such a treasure trove of information? One of Wagner’s employees decided to build up his music collection by using Limewire file sharing. He hadn’t specified which directories on his computer to make accessible, so while he was downloading his favorite music, other users were helping themselves to his files. This breach went on for over 6 months and the data was available to any identity thieves that stumbled upon it.
It is nearly impossible to estimate the extent of the actual damage caused to the victims of any data breach. Once someone’s identity is compromised, they are wide open for thieves to dip into their funds at will. Wagner Research Group is tightening up its security and providing credit monitoring to those affected by the breach. This is very similar to the credit monitoring available from lifelock. Life lock keeps constant watch over the credit of its customers. Because it is nearly impossible to keep your identity from leaking into the hands of identity thieves, many people are turning to lifelock to guard their finances.
