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(The author is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressedare her own.)
By Bobbi Rebell
NEW YORK, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Jihan Antoine is fed up. The28-year-old social media publicist, a T-Mobile customer, foundout last week that her data may have been compromised in abreach, and she immediately had to notify a string of people.
A hack of credit reporting bureau Experian exposed thenames, addresses, birthdays and Social Security numbers of 15million T-Mobile U.S. customers over the last two yearswho had applied for a credit check done by Experian.
"I am responsible for the privacy of my clients includingphotos and videos. If they hack that information, I am introuble," Antoine says.
But then again, she is not changing carriers.
Frankly, she says, "Hacks are inevitable, so why bother?"
Antoine has what one survey identifies as "millennialmalaise" regarding the dangers of identity theft and theprecautions consumers should take to prevent fraud.
New data from security firm Intercede suggests thatmillennials in the United States and UK do not trust governmentand businesses to protect their personal information online.About 61 percent of the 2,000 millennials (aged 16-35) surveyedhad little or no trust in the security of social mediaplatforms.
A quarter of respondents said they supplied theiridentification credentials to sites because they believedgovernments and businesses would access them anyway.
Rather than cause millennials to ramp up their defenses,this pessimistic attitude leads to even more lax securitybehavior, says Darren Guccione, CEO of Keeper Security, apassword manager.
For one thing, millennials tend to put too many eggs in onepassword basket, because many popular applications allow usersto sign-in using their primary social media account credentials,often for Facebook.
They also are more trusting, using public Wi-Fi at coffeeshops and other public places. "These could be a real cyber riskto their privacy," says Irfan Saif, Cyber Risk Servicestechnology leader and principal at Deloitte & Touche, LLP.
There is further danger from a perception among millennialsthat they do not have to care about cybersecurity because theydo not yet have anything that they perceive as valuable.
"This is a misconception because their identity is the very'value' that is at stake," says Guccione.
A data breach in young adulthood might not lead to a loss ofresources immediately. But it could cause serious problems formillennials in the future when they are seeking loans or openinga line of credit.
BEST DEFENSE
According to Justin Harvey, chief security officer for cybersecurity company Fidelis Security, millennials should usetwo-factor authentication for their email, social media andbanks whenever possible.
First, a user would have something like a username andpassword. Then they would have something that the serviceprovider provide at that moment - like a constantly changingnumber that only one's personal device knows.
Google Inc has a Google Authenticator app, whichcan provide two-factor authentication for services like Gmail,Google Apps and Google Drive. Through a partnership, MicrosoftCorp users also can utilize it.
Facebook has built its authenticator directly intoits iPhone and iPad apps. Another company, Activision Blizzard, which makes popular games like World of Warcraft, hasalso developed an authentication app.
For the most sensitive accounts, users should use uniquepasswords for each one, and change them frequently, Harveyadvises. He also warns not to give out too much personalinformation for online services, whether it is a new app or aservice one signs up for on the web.
Most of all, millennials just need to pay attention and makesure they know how serious the danger is.
"This hack or any other major hack will not cause themillennial generation to change their habits overnight," saysGuccione. "We're talking about changing the mindset of anentire generation that generally grew up to be very trustingwith their digital information."
As for Antoine, she has heard the message and says she isstarting to take the issue of security a lot more seriously. "Iam trying to monitor what I put on my cellphone. But I am movingat 115 miles per hour.
At the same time, she added, "I also want to be mindful ofopportunities to protect my information." (Editing by Beth Pinsker and Dan Grebler)
