New Infographic Raises Awareness About Data Breaches, Hacking, and What You Can Do to Protect Yourself

While companies fight to keep up with sleuth hackers, there’s also a new level of consumer responsibility that people must take on as citizens of the internet community in order to protect their own privacy.

North Huntingdon, PA (PRWEB) March 06, 2014

A new infographic from Century Negotiations, Inc (CNI) reveals startling information about the world of hacking and data breaches. Backed by solid research, including 9 years of studies done by ID Theft Center, the infographic entitled “EXPOSED: Hacking and Data Breaches - The Business of Stealing Information” strives to educate CNI's clientele and blog readers about this increasingly common form of data thievery. The graphic is available to view on their blog for free, and reveals ways the consumer can protect his/herself from becoming a victim.

As technology increases at an exponential rate, the vulnerability of the consumer continues to demand more attention. It’s not just the PC that’s connected to the internet anymore. For most people, it’s their cell phone, which holds a trove of personal data (including photos, videos, and text messages). Then there’s the rapidly expanding audience of people utilizing wearable technology, such as watches and smart glasses. Even further, home appliances and automobiles are starting to integrate internet technology. It’s inevitable that connected technology will eventually envelope just about every activity people engage in on a daily basis. Although convenient, these advances necessitate new habits to protect personal information.

Along with the consumer responsibility comes the need for businesses and corporations to adopt vigilant privacy policies and technological protection to keep data thieves out. The most recent large scale attack was towards Target stores in December, amidst the busiest shopping season of the year, where a reported 40 million financial records were stolen. Another 70 million records were further compromised containing items like a name and email address. Though unsettling, this is not the first time an event like this has happened. It begs the question then: What are companies doing to crack down on the gaps in technology which allows these hackers to be successful?

While companies fight to keep up with sleuth hackers, there’s also a new level of consumer responsibility that people must take on as citizens of the internet community in order to protect their own privacy. In the blog post and infographic, CNI shares several preventative measures to take that will make it much harder for a hacker to steal one’s information. Bottom line - it’s up to the consumer to make their data well protected and not become the low-hanging fruit that hackers so eagerly seek out.

As a debt settlement company, CNI wants to make sure their clients and blog readers are well equipped not just for the financial roads of life, but also developing best practices that will permeate into their lives as a whole. This includes better online security to protect items like a social security number (SSN) and credit card information, ensuring that hackers will not be able to access this information and then fraudulently charge up the credit or bank accounts.

CNI was founded by Dave Leuthold in 2003 and is now recognized as a leader in the debt settlement industry. He was also involved with the founding of The Association of Settlement Companies and is on the board of the American Fair Credit Council. CNI has settled more than $600,000,000 of debt for their clients.

For more information and to view the infographic, please follow this link: http://www.centuryni.com/blog/infographic-7-ways-prevent-hackers-stealing-information/