DATA BREACHES HIT A RECORD HIGH.

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center's 2023 Data Breach Report, the number of publicly reported data breaches in the U.S. reached a record high of 3,205, a 78% increase from the previous year. Supply-chain attacks, where criminals exploit third-party vendors with weaker security protections to gain access to larger organizations, have seen a significant increase. The report predicts that the high number of breaches in 2023 will lead to a rise in identity crimes, such as impersonation scams and synthetic identity fraud. The ITRC recommends implementing more uniform laws and regulations for reporting data breaches and expanding the use of facial identity verification to combat identity crimes. Library patrons can protect themselves from fraud by being cautious of phishing schemes, installing software updates promptly, and using multifactor authentication when possible. [Extracted from the article]