Data breaches are breaking out again among tech companies. T-Mobile, PayPal and LastPass all experienced breaches recently affecting millions of users, collectively.
T-Mobile admitted last week that data belonging to some 37 million of its customers was exposed to hackers. And it’s not the first time. Monday was the deadline for consumers affected by T-Mobile’s last data breach to claim a portion of a class action settlement. That hack came in 2021.
Other data breaches were reported in the past few days by PayPal and password manager LastPass. Tech expert Omar Gallaga says poor security practices at some companies are to blame, and that users should redouble their efforts to lock down their data.
Highlights from this segment:
– T-Mobile’s data breach is believed to be the result of a “back door” left open to the cell phone carrier’s data.
– PayPal experiences a “credential stuffing” attack, in which hackers attempt to use email addresses and passwords obtained through nefarious means, to attempt to log into the service.
– Users concerned about potential data breaches should change passwords they believe could be at risk, add two-factor authentication where available, and use an authenticator app like Authy to generate unique access codes to accounts.
