Data breach
An incident where protected information is accessed, stolen or exposed without authorization. Its credentials fuel the next attacks.
Full definition
A data breach is a security incident in which protected or confidential information, customer data, credentials, financial information or intellectual property, is accessed, stolen or exposed without authorization.
The cost goes far beyond the incident: regulatory fines, litigation, customer loss and reputational damage. In LATAM, personal data protection laws, such as Colombia's habeas data framework, also impose custody and notification duties. Credentials stolen in a breach do not die with the news cycle: they are packaged and circulate for years, fueling credential stuffing and account takeover.
Beyond prevention, fast detection matters: monitoring whether your own company's data and credentials appear in third-party breaches shrinks from months to hours the window in which the attacker runs unopposed.
Related terms
Data leak
Exposure of sensitive information with no attack involved: a misconfigured database, an overshared file, an email to the wrong recipient.
Leaked credentials
Usernames and passwords exposed in breaches or stolen by malware, circulating on the dark web. They are the raw material of initial access to companies.
Dark web monitoring
Continuous surveillance of breaches and criminal markets to detect exposed company credentials or data, and react in hours instead of months.
Data exfiltration
Unauthorized transfer of information from the victim's systems to the attacker. It is the end goal of most intrusions.
From definition to data: measure your company's human risk
Fensivo detects leaked credentials, simulates real attacks and validates with retests that behavior changed.