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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York's attorney general says the private records of nearly 23 million New Yorkers have been exposed in data security breaches reported by more than 3,000 businesses, nonprofits and governments over the past eight years.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says deliberate hacking was responsible for 40 percent of the 5,000 incidents, which exposed a majority of the records, followed by lost or stolen equipment, insider wrongdoing and inadvertent errors.
Schneiderman says, "we should be able to enjoy the benefits of new technology without putting ourselves at risk."
He's urging collaboration between industry and security experts so businesses and organizations have the tools to secure data and address the growing, complex problem.
Since 2005, New York law has required breached institutions to advise the attorney general and the individuals when computerized private data consisting of names and account, social security or driver's license numbers were acquired by an unauthorized user.
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