Security, or lack of it, in our data-driven age.
Were you one of the 100+ million credit customers whose profiles were pilfered from Equifax last summer? Chances are you don’t even know. A whole lot rides on what your identity means in today’s data-driven world, and when a huge company that holds all your private information gets hacked, you should really take notice. Identity theft is a huge industry, and growing exponentially.
Last year, consumers lost over 16 BILLION dollars, a 16% increase from 2016. This year will be no different. If you accept payments online or through a web-based processor, like Square or PayPal you may see more bogus purchases, pay more in chargebacks and possibly even pay higher fees or liability insurance rates.
Personally, you should be proactive in blocking access to credit, by freezing credit applications with the big three reporting agencies: Experian, Trans-Union and Equifax. Good luck out there.