Jimmy John’s announced last week that hundreds of its stores, including a dozen in Minnesota and one near the University of Minnesota campus, have been subject to a data breach. Credit cards swiped at the affected Jimmy John’s locations between June 16 and Sept. 5 may be vulnerable to fraudulent use.

Jimmy John’s has resolved the hacking incident, and the restaurant chain is tightening its security to prevent future hacking from occurring. The chain is offering free identity protection services for anyone affected by the breach.

However, this is only the latest in a string of high-profile hackings. In the past year, Target, Dairy Queen, Cub Foods and other stores have announced similar data breaches that have put thousands of customers at risk. All of these stores have locations on or near campus.

Furthermore, universities are also at an increased risk for data breaches. Some estimate that large universities must resist up to several thousand hacking attempts every day. When these attempts are successful, they may expose people’s names, passwords and payroll information to the public.

Changing passwords frequently, choosing long and unpredictable passwords for online accounts, monitoring credit card statements for unusual payments and using single-use credit cards are all ways to increase your security in the event of a data breach. We urge everyone on campus to take their cybersecurity seriously.