Marriott leaks 5.25 million passport numbers

The latest information from Marriott breach is that 5.25 million passport numbers were lost in their recent hack.

https://www.darkreading.com/attacks-breaches/marriott-sheds-new-light-on-massive-breach-/d/d-id/1333592

The Cathay Pacific hack recently affected 9.4 million customers, including passport numbers.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/cathay-pacific-hack-customers-credit-card-passport-details-credit-card-numbers-a8599851.html

These are indeed worrying times. I understand that passport numbers are an extremely hot target and so hard to obtain that they're not even available on the dark web.

Companies are not adequately securing this information and customers have no choice but to provide these details to use everyday services. I wrote in an earlier blog post about my reticence to provide the TV licensing agency with my details in future. The problem is, once these details about someone have leaked, they're impossible to get back. I suspect most people would be shocked if they realised just how much personal information about them has already been stolen and probably available on the dark web.

Unfortunately, my prediction is that medical records will be one of the next pieces of sensitive data to be hacked en masse.