Cybercrime Is Coming for You – And No One’s Stopping It

You never think it will happen to you.

A polite email arrives from a company you trust. Perhaps your bank. Your mobile provider. A retailer you’ve used for years. “We’ve experienced a data breach. Some of your personal information may have been compromised.”

You sigh. You reset your password. You delete the email. Maybe you roll your eyes. Mildly annoying, yes – but no big deal, right?

Wrong. That’s just the beginning. While you get on with your day, your personal data could already be for sale on dark web forums. It might be bought by fraudsters, identity thieves, or cybercriminals planning their next move. You might not see the impact immediately.

Your credit score plummets without explanation. Your accounts are drained. A fraudulent mortgage application lands on your credit history. Your identity is cloned. And all because a company, somewhere, failed to protect the data you trusted them with.

Simon Pamplin, CTO at Certes, explores why, despite rising public concern and stricter regulation, many organisations still underestimate the real-world consequences of cybercrime – not just for themselves, but for the customers and partners they rely on.

Why Is This Still Happening?

The uncomfortable truth is that many organisations simply aren’t doing enough. Despite the headlines. Despite multi-million-pound fines. Despite public outrage. Despite growing regulatory pressure.

In the last year alone, global organisations, major retailers, healthcare providers, financial services firms, and even government agencies have all suffered breaches. From ransomware attacks to insider threats, the methods vary. But the result is always the same: customer data compromised. Trust broken. And often, no real accountability.

But why? The reason is disturbingly simple: most businesses still rely on security strategies that focus on the wrong thing.

Instead of protecting your data, they’re protecting their networks. Firewalls. Passwords. User authentication. These are necessary controls, but they only secure the perimeter. Once attackers are inside so-called ‘secure networks’, often using stolen credentials, the data itself is left exposed.

What Does a Breach Actually Mean for You?

For most consumers, the true cost of a data breach remains abstract. Resetting a password feels like the end of the story. But the reality is much darker.

• Data is permanent. Once stolen, your personal data doesn’t “expire.” It can be used years later to commit fraud.
• Scams become personalised. Attackers use stolen data to make phishing messages or phone calls more convincing, exploiting real details about your life.
• Your digital identity is for sale. Everything from your National Insurance number to your address history can be traded on cybercrime marketplaces.
• The emotional toll is real. Victims of identity theft report lasting psychological stress, fear, and anxiety about financial security.

This is happening every day to ordinary people across the world, but there is a way for businesses to stop breaches in their tracks.

Why Should Businesses Care?

Businesses should care because regulators increasingly do. Under GDPR, companies face fines of up to £17.5 million, or 4% of global turnover, for failing to protect personal data. New regulations like the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) are tightening operational requirements across the financial sector. Cyber insurance premiums are climbing. And perhaps most damaging of all: customers are losing patience.

Trust is fragile. Once broken, it’s almost impossible to rebuild.

From a business perspective, a data breach is not confined to the realms of the IT department. It’s a reputational crisis, a financial liability, and a direct threat to leadership accountability. Regulators now expect proof that the right protections are in place, not a post-breach apology.

What Needs to Change?

The industry must shift its focus. Cybercriminals aren’t attacking networks; they’re targeting your data. And yet, most businesses still leave data unprotected once the perimeter is breached.

Instead of relying solely on prevention, organisations need to assume attackers will get in and plan for what happens next.

The answer isn’t stronger passwords or stricter firewalls. It’s making sure that even if data is stolen, it’s useless to attackers.

Data-centric protection – where data is persistently secured, no matter where it travels – must be an essential piece of every organisation’s cybersecurity strategy. By protecting the data, the breach becomes useless. Even when attackers get inside the network (which they will), they leave with nothing of value.

Why Should Consumers Care?

You think it won’t happen to you. Right now, your personal details could be sitting in a database that’s under-protected, vulnerable, or already compromised.

The next breach won’t feel like a big deal – until it is.

When businesses fail to protect your data, it’s you who pays the price.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Cybercrime is evolving, and the security mindset must evolve with it. Organisations that take a data-centric approach are proving it’s possible to stay one step ahead. By protecting what matters most – the data itself – they’re turning the tide on breaches and rebuilding trust in the process.

The technology exists. The expertise exists. What’s missing, too often, is the willingness to shift perspective.

If you’re questioning whether your data protection strategy is fit for the world we live in now, you’re asking the right questions. The next step is finding people who know how to help you answer them.