Billions Breached!

 

If you have been keeping up with the news over the past few weeks, you should have noticed reports about one of the largest data breaches of all time. The “National Public Data” (NPD) data breach exposed sensitive personal data, including national ID numbers (e.g. SSNs) of nearly 3 billion people worldwide. Naturally, this includes millions of U.S. citizens as well.

Some subscription-based credit monitoring services have begun alerting their members of this event. Additionally, websites have been set up for individuals to search the breached data to see if they too are part of the breach. This can be helpful for those without a monitoring service; however, I would not advise providing any sensitive data (e.g. social security number) on these non-authoritative sites since this puts your sensitive information at even further risk.

But, instead of only taking action afterward, I would encourage you to take a more proactive approach. Given the vastness of this breach and the frequency with which data breaches like this one occur, it is reasonable to assume that if your data was not exposed by this massive breach (or by numerous others), it probably will be exposed at some time in the future. Making that assumption allows one to take some meaningful preventative action.

Most ‘bad actors’ are financially motivated, and the biggest threat to individuals in a breach like this one is typically Identity Theft.  The best way to protect yourself from having your identity stolen by bad actors is by freezing your credit. Freezing your credit prevents new lines of credit from being opened up in your name, even if someone has your social security number.

Now, this will take some time and effort on your part, and no doubt it can be a bit inconvenient when you try to open a new credit card and are unable to because you forgot that your credit was frozen. But this frustration will be shared by others who fraudulently try to open up a credit card in your name.

Keep in mind that when your credit is frozen, you are still able to use the lines of credit that you already possess. And, when you do need to apply for a line of credit, you can always unfreeze your credit for the time necessary to get your new credit card before freezing your credit once again.

If you decide to protect yourself in this way, you’ll need to freeze your credit at each of the three major credit bureaus (remember, I said it would take some time and effort). For more specific instructions and links, I encourage you to read the linked article posted on the Federal Government’s official website USA.gov.

Lastly, if you know for sure that your social security number has been exposed or you suspect that your identity is being stolen, in addition to freezing your credit, I highly advise that you notify other agencies like local law enforcement, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Social Security Administration (SSA).

-Paul J. Wheeler
  CISO, Daytona State College