Personal Data Breaches Reported Expanding

A new study by Pew Research found that 18 percent of American adults with Internet access have reported that their personal information was stolen in a data breach. That's up from 11 percent who reported the same last July. And, this is serious personal information being taken here -- such as Social Security and credit card numbers and banking information. The percentage of those reporting a breach of their e-mail, social media, or other online accounts held steady at 21 percent in both years. Of course, this survey was done before the Heartbleed bug was discovered making all Web surfers wonder whether they should change their passwords to prevent theft of their email accounts, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information.