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.
Amazon, in December 2021, patched a high severity vulnerability affecting its Photos app for Android that could have been exploited to steal a user's access tokens
And some of it may have been leaked on social media A California state website exposed the personal details of anyone who applied for a concealed-and-carry weapons (CCW) permit between 2011 and 2021.…
A password link that didn't expire leads to the discovery of exposed personal information at a payments service.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warns of an increase in complaints that cybercriminals are using Americans' stolen Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and deepfakes to apply for remote work positions. [...]
Now those are some phishing boats Carnival Cruise Lines will cough up more than $6 million to end two separate lawsuits filed by 46 states in the US after sensitive personal information on customers and employees was accessed in a string of cyber attacks.…
Also, Chrome add-ons are great for fingerprinting, and hacked hot tubs splurge details In brief A Japanese contractor working in the city of Amagasaki, near Osaka, reportedly mislaid a USB drive containing personal data on the metropolis's 460,000 residents.…