By Olamide Olayiwola, CTA Summer Intern
Typically, when we hear about data breaches, it’s focused on the number of records that have been breached. “One million passwords compromised” or “Company X suffered the biggest breach in the year 2025”, has essentially become daily news. Looking beyond the numbers is a silent threat with long-lasting consequences that leave many at risk; the aftermath that comes can affect victims for years following the incident
How a Breach Unravels
By definition a data breach is unauthorized access to sensitive or private information, including names, addresses, login credentials, social security numbers, financial details, or health records. These breaches can occur unintentionally or with malicious intent. Attackers exploit vulnerabilities found in networks, applications, or human behavior and once through can extract important data.
With organizations often discovering the attack weeks–or even months–later, the damage has already been done, and the data extracted will be circulating around different markets. With these delays in realizing the incident, cybercriminals have time to monetize on what they have taken.
Real Life Ripples
- NYU Admission Data Leak (March 2025)
In March, a hacker took control over NYU’s website, making updates to their homepage with information that included over 3 million applicants’ names, test scores, demographics, zip codes, and financial aid information dating back to 1989. This incident exposed a large amount of detailed information, which increased each individual’s chance to risk identity-based fraud, phishing, and overall unwanted exposure.
- Business Group Breach (NY Business Council, Feb 2025)
In February, the Business Council of New York experienced a cyberattack which included names, birthdates, and social security numbers. Months following the incident, those who were affected filed lawsuits which focused on the delay in notifications and the now heightened risk of identity risk. Although the Council offered credit monitoring, this breach revealed that smaller organizations can pose identity risks when breached.
Data Breach to Identity Fraud
When looking in, many might assume a revealed name, birthdate, or email isn’t a concern but tied with other information, it can be enough for cybercriminals.
- Credential stuffing allows attackers to exploit reused passwords.
- Synthetic identity fraud can assemble mined fragments, like one’s social security number or address and it into personas used to open different accounts.
The Quiet Aftermath
Unlike credit or debit cards that can be canceled and replaced, identity theft is silent and can’t easily be fixed. This creates a long-lasting exposure, highly demanding vigilance. The necessary vigilance does not only come from individuals, but organizations as incidents can cause lost trust or result in legal action.
To defend and prepare for potential fallout, individuals and organizations can–and should– do data minimization, create strong authentication, have rapid response systems and transparency, in addition to general education and readiness.
Final Thoughts
The cost of data breaches should not simply be measured in dollars but in the risk of stolen identities. Regardless of where the stolen data is coming from, misusing it can result in worse passing the initial cyber-attack. By understanding the anatomy of data breaches and reinforcing defenses, individuals and organizations can mitigate the quiet aftermath of potential identity theft.