An Easy Target

The value of stolen data increases when it is more easily manipulated and used.  With a social security number, you can apply for identification, loans, and a range of other things that are valuable.  If your credit score is high, the possibilities of what can be done are higher too, so who better to go after for a clean slate than someone under the age of 18?

It’s only when you start “adulting” that you need to regularly provide your social security number, and by the time that happens, it may be too late, and you’re somehow linked to two mortgages and a car loan.

Your clients may not be under 18, but the data and records that they use in business could contain this information, so they need to be aware of the value of the data that they are accessing.  Remember, no industry is exempt from being a target.

Across All Verticals

As an MSP it’s important to point out to your clients that all data is worth money to a hacker.  Regardless of the industry that they are in, their system contains data that is worth something on the dark web. This means that if a human resource department holds all employee records, and that includes insurance information, and that insurance has a beneficiary on the record, and that beneficiary is a child, their social security number is in the system.  Everyone, everything and everywhere is a target. Hackers are looking at them for one reason or another, and no victory is too small, and no data is insignificant.

Education is Key

We all hear the news headlines about recent breaches but using real-life examples about how human error can affect not only the individual but also the business is a great way to make a lesson stick.  Add to it that not only will they be affected, but now their children’s identities are a target is another way to make a point hit home and for them to realize the importance of a strong cybersecurity program.