Bzz—a notification popped up on my phone. It was an Instagram DM that seemed to be from someone I know, since they had the same name and profile picture. They asked me for my phone number because they needed it to “recover their account, ” and as foolish as it sounds, I actually gave it to them. Thankfully, this was not a significant privacy breach, as after thoroughly implementing two-factor authentication on all my accounts, I experienced no instances of spam calls, malicious mail, or any other attacks—at least those that I am aware of. I probably got off easy, but for millions around the world, this could very well be detrimental and completely ruin their lives.
In 2024 alone, it was estimated that there were around 16.8 billion exposed records and 6,670 large-scale data breaches. This means that there was double the number of data breaches than there are humans on Earth.
Unfortunately, things did not get any better in 2025. A breach of the Salesforce Cloud System, directly linked with Gmail passwords and security, prompted Google to warn 2.5 billion users of potentially exposed credentials, and to never give passwords to anyone. Clearly, the problem of data privacy and cybersecurity is an ever-growing issue, and with the advent of AI and powerful analytic tools, automation and creation of stealthy malware, spyware, and ransomware have never been easier.
A full third of all reported cyberspace attacks are ransomware, and as the systems that manage and operate them become more precise, effective, and organized, double and even triple extortion ransomware is becoming increasingly common. 65 percent of companies reportedly had some interaction with ransomware in 2024, a notable increase from just four years ago, when the number was only 46 percent.
However, not all is doom and gloom. The advent of AI and intelligent algorithms as a powerful analytical tool has greatly boosted the ability of cybersecurity teams to catch and detect suspicious logins and users, as well as analyze and reverse engineer malware to restore the system to operational capacity. The average cost for a data breach globally fell to $4.44 million, and the global average breach lifecycle to 241, 17 days shorter compared to last year.
This highlights the dual nature of modern technology in cyberspace and how it is no longer optional for us to not know about the adverse types of security breaches and phishing methods. It is a critical step to not only protect personal data, but also the data of other individuals who are linked to users through social media accounts, contacts, and the internet. Roughly 63 percent of all victims fall due to the lack of information required to discern the validity of potential scammers and phishers. It is no longer just the responsibility of governments or companies to protect our data; we must take measures ourselves, even at the expense of personal convenience.
One of the best ways to reduce our chances of experiencing a personal data breach is to not reuse the same passwords for all accounts. 65 percent of all Google users, for instance, reuse their passwords to some degree, a major weak point in security easily exploited by hackers and cybercriminals. 81 percent of hacking-related breaches leveraging stolen or weak passwords. Therefore, with tools such as Google’s password manager, it is a worthwhile investment to use different passwords for different online accounts.
Just because we don’t care about our passwords or digital information does not mean that others don’t either. So the question is this: how will you take steps to protect your information from being stolen?
