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You are here: Home / Money / Protecting Yourself in the Face of a Data Breach

September 19, 2017

Protecting Yourself in the Face of a Data Breach

wallet in pocketDuring mid-May through July of 2017, 143 million Americans were victims of a data breach at Equifax, a major credit reporting agency.  In this data breach, sensitive information such as names, addresses, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and in some case credit card information were among the data accessed by hackers. If you were one of the unlucky people whose personal information was compromised, you have likely begun taking steps to protect your information. (If you have not done so, you should check to see if your personal information was potentially impacted).

Even if your information was not compromised in this security breach, this event has left many of us wondering how we can take steps to protect ourselves and our information as we move forward. Here are a few steps that you can take to protect yourself in the event of a data breach:

Regularly monitor your bank and credit accounts: This is always an credit cardadvisable practice, but it is especially important to regularly monitor your bank account and credit accounts if your personal information has been compromised. You’ll want to regularly check any bank and credit accounts, keeping an eye open for any suspicious or unrecognizable charges.

Check your credit reports: Again, this is always an advisable practice but doing so in the event of compromised personal information will allow you to keep an eye on any credit activity that you do not recognize.

Look into a fraud alert or possible credit freeze: If your personal information has been compromised (or even if you suspect it has) you may choose to place a fraud alert. Placing a fraud alert is a free precaution to take that makes it a little more difficult to open new credit in your name by warning creditors that your personal information may have been compromised.  This warning then prompts creditors to take additional steps to verify the identity of anyone seeking to make changes to your credit.

It could also be advisable to freeze your credit, which makes it very difficult for thieves to open new credit in your name by freezing your credit reports and restricting access. If you were affected by the Equifax breach, Equifax is offering free credit freezes until November 21, 2017.

It is important to note that there are a few intricacies in the differences between a credit freeze and fraud alert, so it is my suggestion that you look closely into each option if your personal information is compromised. 

If you would like more information on what to do to protect your information, visit the Federal Trade Commission’s FTC Identify Theft that provides steps to take depending on the kind of information that was compromised.

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WRITTEN BY: Amanda Woods, M.Ed Healthy Finances Program Specialist

REVIEWED BY: Amy Meehan, MPH Healthy People Program Specialist

PHOTO CREDITS:

  • pixabay.com

SOURCES:

  • https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/potential-impact/
  • https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0275-place-fraud-alert
  • https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs
  • https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2017/09/free-credit-freezes-equifax
  • https://www.identitytheft.gov/Info-Lost-or-Stolen

Categories: Money
Tags: credit, data breach, equifax, security

Avatar for Amanda Woods
Avatar for Amanda Woods

About Amanda Woods

Amanda Woods M.Ed. is currently the Healthy Finances Program Specialist for Family and Consumer Sciences at Ohio State University Extension. Amanda is passionate about community engagement and outreach, and enjoys being in a role that helps facilitate research based education throughout the many wonderful counties in Ohio. She believes education is a valuable and indispensable tool, especially when used to promote community health and well-being.

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