Hands Off My PII: How to Protect Your Personally Identifiable Information

The Internet is awash in personally identifiable information (PII). Users constantly share information about where they live, work, and hang out on their online profiles, without thinking about the risk of that information falling into the wrong hands. But we should never forget that this is a major cybersecurity liability for individuals and companies alike.
In a recent article for Dark Reading, NINJIO CEO Zack Schuler advised that, “It’s not enough to make sure employees are using good password hygiene, avoiding malicious links and attachments in emails, and so on. They also have to be mindful of their digital behavior in other domains.” He urged that companies make PII security a top priority, especially now that more business is happening online than ever before as a result of the pandemic.
Here are some key tips and data points Zack shared:

80% of breaches include records containing customer PII. Personal information is the most common variety of data to be breached in 2020. 

Employees don’t just have to be cognizant of what they’re sharing, they have to pay close attention to account security in general. 39% of social media users have “logged into another website using the credentials from their social media accounts.”

Passwords are the most sensitive form of PII, and employees can’t afford to be careless with them; 13% of Americans have had their accounts “taken over without permission.” 

Employees should keep PII secure with password managers (which just 12% of Americans say they use) and other forms of cybersecurity hygiene like the refusal to click on suspicious links and attachments. 

PII protection also requires a fundamental shift in how many employees use digital platforms. Employees have to get into the habit of thinking about threats like this and adjust their behavior accordingly.

Learn more a PII and how to protect yours and your employees’ in the full article here.