A data breach is an incident in which confidential information, such as customer data, credentials or records, is exposed or ends up in unauthorized hands. It can result from an attack, a configuration error or simple carelessness, and it usually requires the company to investigate, contain the damage and notify the people affected.
How TecnetOne handles it: Incident Response
data leak, security breach, information leak, data exposure
Related terms
Dark web and deep web
The deep web is every part of the internet that search engines do not index, such as your email inbox, online banking or your company's internal systems. The dark web is a small part of the deep web that can only be reached with special browsers like Tor, and it is where stolen credentials and databases are bought and sold.
Encryption
Encryption is the process of turning information into unreadable code that only someone with the right key can read. If a laptop with an encrypted drive is stolen or an encrypted file is intercepted, the thief only sees meaningless characters, which is why encryption is the foundation for protecting data at rest and in transit.
Data privacy
Data privacy is the set of legal obligations and technical measures that ensure people's information is collected, used and stored only for legitimate purposes and with their knowledge. Laws such as GDPR in Europe and state privacy laws in the US, like the CCPA in California, require notices, consent and security controls.
Personal data and sensitive data
Personal data is any information that identifies or can identify a person, such as a name, email address, phone number or Social Security number; in the US it is often called personally identifiable information (PII). Sensitive data is the subset that can cause serious harm if misused, such as health, financial or biometric information, and privacy laws require stronger protection for it.
Doxxing
Doxxing is the deliberate publication of someone's personal data, such as a home address, phone number or workplace, gathered from public or leaked sources to intimidate or expose them. For companies, it's a direct risk to executives and spokespeople.
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