Last night, I read about another breach or leak of personal data caused by a lack of security in storing/transferring our PII. These frequent stories stress me out and lead to redoubling my efforts to lock down our information (as much as I can). This morning, I decided to start a list of the major breaches of data affecting military families. A quick search convinced me that I don’t have the time to compile even a portion of those events and still accomplish something else this week. I did find a comprehensive, well-sourced list at Wikipedia that includes retail, web, medical, etc… breaches in alphabetical order with their dates in a table format.
The PII breach that keeps me up at night is the 2015 hack of the Office of Personnel Management. For military families, having all the information from security clearance applications, fingerprints, photos, and military career details in the hands of the Chinese government or any other highest bidder can fuel righteous anger and fear. The Customs and Border Patrol breach of travel photos and license plate data has huge implications, as well. When will the DoD maintain oversight of their contractors? Rhetorical question, of course. So many examples of poor management of the public/private partnership between vendors and contractors with the DoD!
If you’re still on the fence about taking all the steps to remove yourselves from the internet, take a quick look at all the military and financial institutions in the Wikipedia list of breaches. Between foreign governments, radical enemies, insider threats, and data brokers, thousands of bad actors want your information. Some of them want to hurt your family. Don’t make it easy for them.
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