100,000 Lives Digitally Gutted – Why You Should Be Holding Gold, Not Credit Cards

Outsourced Trust, Outsized Risk Hertz is trying to spin this as “just” a vendor issue. Their digital sidekick, Cleo Communications US, got compromised by a zero-day exploit—the kind of thing the NSA probably catalogues like baseball cards. Thieves didn’t just walk in. They strolled through an open back door between October and December 2024, yanked out a treasure trove of personal data, and vanished into the night. At least 100,000 Americans now have their names, phone numbers, emails, credit card data, and driver’s licensesfloating around dark web bazaars. Oh—and for a “very small number,” let’s add Social Security numbers, passports, and Medicare records to the pile. Because why not? They’ll Always Choose Themselves Over You Don’t be fooled by the…