A large collection of the information taken during that data breach has been found for sale on the dark web. Many received alerts informing them of their information being online and confirmed that they are now at a heightened risk for identity theft. The data breach impacted more than 53 million individuals, including 68,361 West Virginians. Among other categories of impacted information, millions had their names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and driver’s license information compromised.
Data breaches happen all too often, even with large multinational companies that have the resources to defend against these types of attacks. The element that has proven time and time again as the number one weakness against breaches are human error. Without proper security training and defense in depth strategies, you will significantly increase the chance of your business suffering a security incident. As a customer, what can you do to protect yourself when your information is compromised?
We highly recommend that individuals issue a “freeze” with the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Transunion, Experian) that stops new lines of credit from being opened. This can be done for free at their respective websites. Most banks now offer a free credit reporting service that can send you an alert if anything has been changed or added to your credit report – monitor those emails closely to protect yourself as soon as possible. Stay vigilant and informed about what is on your credit report to protect yourself against Identity theft as a result of these types of security incidents.
