This past Thursday, the credit reporting bureau Equifax reported a data breach that began sometime in mid-May and lasted through July of this year, potentially impacting more than 143 million Americans. The hackers gained access to sensitive, personal information including names, social security numbers, addresses, birth dates, and in some cases, drivers license and credit card numbers.
While the there is no evidence of unauthorized activity on Equifax’s core consumer or commercial credit reporting databases, if you have a credit file with Equifax, there’s a chance at least some of your data may have been involved in this breach.
If the stolen information from Equifax were to get in the wrong hands, data thieves could perform highly personalized nefarious acts such as opening bank accounts, lines of credit, new credit cards and even drivers’ licenses in your name. This could impact your ability to obtain future loans, mortgages, social security checks and more.
To verify the status of your data, visit www.equifaxsecurity2017.com. The “Potential Impact” tab allows you to enter your last name and the last six digits of your social security number (do this on a secure computer and encrypted network!) In addition, the Federal Trade Commission
Here are some actions we recommend taking in order to safeguard your information:
- Frequently monitor you credit reports and report any suspicious activity.
- Enroll in free credit monitoring – Regardless of data exposure, U.S. consumers can obtain a year of free credit monitoring and other services from Equifax. The site will provide a date when you can come back and enroll. Enrollment is open until November 21 , 2017.
- Secure your online accounts by enabling One Time Password (OTP) – By enabling this feature in RoboForm, you can specify which computers and devices can access your account.
- RoboForm users can utilize the Security Center to audit the strength of individual passwords. Weak, reused, and duplicated passwords will be clearly flagged. This is particularly useful for evaluating the protection level of accounts linked to sensitive personal data.
- Consider freezing your credit – A credit freeze lets you restrict access to your credit report, in turn making it more difficult for identity thieves to open new accounts in your name. A freeze does not impact your current credit score and remains in place until you ask the credit reporting firm to remove it.
