Dangers lurk around every data byte, and as everyone’s lives are becoming increasingly digitized, you are constantly at risk of losing your identity. The recent breach at credit reporting bureau Equifax emphasizes that fact.
“I believe that the Equifax breach scared people to death because it finally dawned on us how much of our data is out there,” says Adam Levin, founder of CyberScout, a provider of identity theft protection services. “Equifax is the exclamation on the problem.”
The credit bureau’s breach exposed data — including people’s Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and even some driver’s license numbers (i.e., exactly what you’d need to steal someone’s identity) — of 145.5 million Americans. That’s about half of the U.S. population and three-quarters of consumers with credit reports, according to the National Consumer Law Center — making the odds that you were affected high.
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And Equifax has continued to botch its recovery from this cybersecurity struggle. It was widely criticized for opting to set up a new site — equifaxsecurity2017.com — where people could see if they’d been affected rather than create a page at its existing domain. Software engineer Nick Sweeting even proved how easy that strategy made it for identity thieves to phish for data by creating a copycat site with a similar URL — and Equifax itself fell for the fake site, tweeting out a link to it several times. Most recently, on Oct. 11, independent security analyst Randy Abrams discovered malware on Equifax’s site that popped up to trick visitors into downloading fraudulent Adobe updates.
While the Equifax story might be grabbing the most headlines right now, it’s far from being the only such occurrence. “The scope, the scale, the amount of data, the way that the thieves are getting it — all of these things are growing in both frequency and severity,” says Eva Velasquez, CEO and president of the nonprofit organization Identity Theft Resource Center.
In fact, in 2012, the ITRC reports that a only 471 data breaches occurred. In 2016, the number of breaches jumped up to 1,091, and in 2017, the count had already reached 1,080 as of Oct. 10 and exposed more than 171 million records.
Given such a rapidly growing problem, the need to protect yourself is clear. “I think you have to assume that breaches have become the third certainty in life,” says Levin. “And government and businesses have been unable to protect us, so we have to do everything we can to protect ourselves.”
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Unfortunately, you can’t prevent your personal data from being exposed in the inevitable next big data breach. “Your information has already been shared, and it’s not plausible that you can remove all of your information from all these places,” says credit expert John Ulzheimer, formerly of Equifax and FICO.
But that doesn’t mean you should do nothing. While you may not be able to keep all of your data under lock and key, you need to control what you can and take action to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft. Here are five ways you can do that.
Practice good identity hygiene. According to Velasquez, you need to be smart with your information by, for example, not keeping your Social Security card in your wallet or leaving other sensitive information vulnerable. You should also shred documents containing important data, such as old tax records, when you’re ready to dispose of them. Also, use strong passwords — a different one for each account — and change them often. And of course, don’t give out personal information to strangers on the phone or via email. “On a basic level, we’re very aware of these large-scale hacks and breaches, but self-compromise can be just as damaging,” says Velasquez.
Monitor your credit reports. This move won’t help stop a problem from occurring, but it can ensure you learn about it and start working on a solution as soon as possible. “Detection is the new prevention,” says Levin. “If you catch it early, it’s treatable.”
You can get all three of your credit reports — one from each of the three bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) for free once a year at annualcreditreport.com. Personal finance site Credit Karma also offers free review of your reports from Equifax and TransUnion, which can be updated weekly. You can also get free summaries of your reports from Credit.com and Credit Sesame.
Set up fraud alerts. Once you suspect your data may have been compromised, you can go to any one of the three credit bureaus and set up an initial fraud alert, which would let lenders and creditors know that they should take extra steps to confirm your identity. The one bureau will contact the other two for you. It’s free and lasts for 90 days, after which you can renew for another 90 days. If you are a victim of fraud — and can prove it with a copy of the identity theft report — you can place an extended fraud alert that lasts seven years.
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Freeze your credit. This move restricts potential creditors from accessing your credit report, making it harder for fraudsters to open new accounts in your name. To do it, you have to contact each credit bureau and possibly pay a fee of $5 to $10, depending on your state and age, each time you initiate or lift a freeze. If you’re going to apply for credit, Ulzheimer says you just need to call the bureau the lender will be checking a day or two in advance to thaw your report. “It does require that you change the process a bit,” he says. “But it’s something that is very easy to do.”
Equifax is currently offering free credit freezes until Jan. 31, 2018. And Velasquez and the ITRC are petitioning via change.org to make credit freezes at all three bureaus always free to everyone.
Be vigilant. Even when a big data breach isn’t the top news story, remember that your information is out there and waiting to be used against you. “The fact that you have an identity is the issue,” says Ulzheimer. “It will make you a target throughout your entire life, even after you die.”
You always have to be on guard and ready to take action whenever the next big hack happens. “You cannot prevent this, but you can limit your risk,” Levin says. “It’s all about being alert, understanding the threats, knowing the signs, knowing as quickly as possible there’s an issue and having a plan.”
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How to Protect Yourself From the Next Big Data Breach originally appeared on usnews.com
