PII covers information that identifies people, making its collection, storage, and disclosure central to privacy protection and breach response.
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PII (personally identifiable information) is information that identifies a person directly or can do so when combined with other data. Direct identifiers include names, government identification numbers, passport details, and email addresses; indirect identifiers can include birth dates, precise location, or unique account attributes. The term is used broadly in security, but its legal scope varies: laws and regulations may use different definitions, such as “personal data” under the GDPR or protected health information under HIPAA.
PII is a high-value target because unauthorized access or disclosure can enable identity fraud, targeted phishing, or privacy harm. It may be exposed through compromised applications, cloud storage, logs, endpoints, or third parties. Practitioners should inventory and classify it, collect and retain only what is needed, restrict access, and protect it with encryption or tokenization where appropriate. Monitoring and tested procedures for investigating exposure are important, while retention, deletion, and notification duties depend on the applicable jurisdiction and sector.
West Lothian Council confirmed that ransomware attackers have stolen personal and sensitive information held on its education network
Parents and teachers have personal info, ID documents leaked online, but exam season mostly unaffected Scotland's West Lothian Council has confirmed that data was stolen from its education network after the Interlock ransomware group claimed responsibility for the intrusion earlier this month.…
A 19-year-old college student from Worcester, Massachusetts, has agreed to plead guilty to a massive cyberattack on PowerSchool that extorted millions of dollars in exchange for not leaking the personal data of millions of students and teachers. [...]
Ministry of Justice Discloses April 23 BreachHackers stole from the U.K. Ministry of Justice personal information pertaining to criminal defendants in need of an attorney, the British government disclosed Monday. The ministry on Monday said it detected on April 23 a breach that targeted the Legal Aid Agency.
Cybercriminals lifted info including addresses, ID numbers, and financial records from agency systems A "significant amount of personal data" belonging to legal aid applicants dating back to 2010 in the UK was stolen by cybercriminals, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) confirmed today.…
The UK government says that hackers accessed a “large amount” of personal information in attack on Legal Aid Agency
PLUS: Euro-cops take down investment scammers; Fancy Bear returns to Ukraine; and more Infosec In Brief The Alabama state government is investigating an unspecified "cybersecurity event" that it said has affected some state systems, but didn't involve the theft of citizen's personal info.…