To get your hands on a credit card, you must first submit your personal and financial information to a card provider. This information includes your name, phone number, email address and residential address. In addition to the basic information, you also have to divulge sensitive details about your employment information, total annual income and Social Security number. We all submit the required information without giving it much of a thought. But is it safe? As of yet, there hasn’t been a significant data breach in any of the major credit card companies. According to a report by the US Government Accountability Office, large financial institutions adopt security measures that are generally more sophisticated and harder to compromise. Banks and credit card companies know it’s important to safeguard the customers’ information and money. And they constantly keep updating their security systems to guard against hacks and disclosure of any important information. However, it’s not impossible for a big financial player to be breached. Companies like JP Morgan were hacked in 2014, exposing the sensitive data of 76 million customers. The good news was that it didn’t appear that passwords, birthdates or Social Security numbers were stolen. But hackers took countless phone numbers, addresses, names and email addresses. Such information is usually sold in the black markets. Even if your credit card company closely guards your data, there’s the chance that a merchant let’s lose your credit card information. Your own computer could be hacked, and thieves could steal your credit card information at ATMs. It’s always a good idea to be vigilant yourself.
To get your hands on a credit card, you must first submit your personal and financial information to a card provider. This information includes your name, phone number, email address and residential address. In addition to the basic information, you also have to divulge sensitive details about your employment information, total annual income and Social Security number. We all submit the required information without giving it much of a thought. But is it safe?
As of yet, there hasn’t been a significant data breach in any of the major credit card companies. According to a report by the US Government Accountability Office, large financial institutions adopt security measures that are generally more sophisticated and harder to compromise. Banks and credit card companies know it’s important to safeguard the customers’ information and money. And they constantly keep updating their security systems to guard against hacks and disclosure of any important information.
However, it’s not impossible for a big financial player to be breached. Companies like JP Morgan were hacked in 2014, exposing the sensitive data of 76 million customers. The good news was that it didn’t appear that passwords, birthdates or Social Security numbers were stolen. But hackers took countless phone numbers, addresses, names and email addresses. Such information is usually sold in the black markets.
Even if your credit card company closely guards your data, there’s the chance that a merchant let’s lose your credit card information. Your own computer could be hacked, and thieves could steal your credit card information at ATMs. It’s always a good idea to be vigilant yourself.