First, a little background. There is no shortage in news on recent data breaches from Target to Anthem. Rather than repeat the background and risk for those incidents, I’ll provide some general information on why you need to be concerned. In the old days, thieves were happy tricking individuals out of personal information. They could then use a number of schemes to part you from your money. We are now in an era of mega-thieves. Think of them as the big box retailer of stolen identities. Rather than collecting information on individuals, they’ve found it easier to hack companies to steal whatever information they can get their hands on. The surprise to most people? The mega-thieves aren’t using this information to steal your money. Instead, they are selling all your information and profiles on black market sites. They earn their money by selling to other criminals who will them use it to steal your money or identity. So why does this matter? They’ve upped the game. Instead of worrying what one person could do with your information, there is now no limit to the number of criminals who will try to exploit it combined with information from many sources.
Alas, all hope is not lost. There are a couple of things you can and should do to protect yourself. These are my personal recommendations, which may not be appropriate for everyone. Please take time to research your options before making any decisions.
- Don’t reuse passwords on multiple sites. Once thieves get access to one site, they will try other common ones. You can use a password vault or pattern that creates unique passwords for each site. Find reviews on Life Hacker, PC Magazine, CNET.
- Use two-step authentication on any site or account that offers it.
- Sign up for credit monitoring. In addition to knowing when your credit information changes, it also provides your credit score and an analysis on how to improve it.
- Freeze your credit. Clark Howard provides an excellent guide. This means no one can open a credit account in your name. If you need to get a loan or apply for credit, you have a code to temporarily unfreeze your credit.
- The IRS is launching a pilot program to establish a yearly security PIN for your tax returns. This will reduce the chance that someone files a fraudulent return in your name. Only available in Florida, Georgia or the District of Columbia. http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-An-Identity-Protection-PIN
- Check you bank and credit card transactions often. Update your account with text or email notifications such as transactions over a certain amount, card not present or activity.
Good luck.
