PII covers information that identifies people, making its collection, storage, and disclosure central to privacy protection and breach response.
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Background for this topic.
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.
A two-month-long automated credential-stuffing campaign exposed personal information of Chick-fil-A customers, including birthdays, phone numbers, and membership details.
American fast food chain Chick-fil-A has confirmed that customers' accounts were breached in a months-long credential stuffing attack, allowing threat actors to use stored rewards balances and access personal information. [...]
Fintech banking platform Hatch Bank has reported a data breach after hackers stole the personal information of almost 140,000 customers from the company's Fortra GoAnywhere MFT secure file-sharing platform. [...]
Unknown attackers made off with a raft of PII, the Justice Department says — but witnesses in the protection program are still safe.
The Dutch police announced the arrest of three individuals in connection with a "large-scale" criminal operation involving data theft, extortion, and money laundering