The now infamous Equifax data breach continues to stir a media frenzy and public outrage. Approximately 143 million people (nearly half of the U.S. population) are victims of this hack. This breach compromised names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth. Even some driver’s license numbers and credit card numbers also got hacked.
It has been reported that this major credit bureau failed to patch a web-application vulnerability back in March, allowing cybercriminals to enter its system mid-May. They’re now facing numerous lawsuits, a huge stock price hit, and several state and federal investigations.
So, why should you care? There is no 100% accurate way to determine if you were a victim of this breach. Even if you believe your information was not compromised by this particular hack, it’s highly probable that you’re a victim of a data breach that you don’t know about or will likely be affected in the future. A massive data breach like this demonstrates that it’s ultimately up to you to be proactive about protecting your own identity. You can’t assume any organization (big or small) is guarding your information.
With that said, we’ve listed several ways you can lower the risk of identity theft and financial fraud below.
- Freeze your credit file with Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and Innovis. Freezing your credit prohibits credit bureaus from releasing your information in response to a new credit inquiry, unless you thaw or unfreeze your file. This makes it more difficult for a cybercriminal to open a new credit card or loan under your name, but it’s not a bullet-proof protection solution as hackers can make changes to your already existing accounts. Each state has its own sign-up procedures and fee schedule for freezing and/or unfreezing your credit file.
- Enroll in credit monitoring services. Equifax is offering all U.S. consumers a year of free credit monitoring services. These services monitor your credit report and scores. Fraud assistance is offered after suspicious activity arises on your credit report.
- Set up fraud alerts. With fraud alerts in place, lenders and service providers are supposed to contact you to obtain your approval before issuing a new credit card or loan, opening a new account, or increasing a credit card limit on an existing account in your name. Fraud alerts only last for 90 days, but you can renew them. This is not a complete protection solution as lenders and service providers are not legally required to obtain your approval beforehand.
- Request and review your credit report every 120 days. You are entitled to a free credit report every 12 months from each of the major credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) through the government-mandated site annualcreditreport.com.
- Set up and activate two-factor authentication. In addition to requesting a password, sites will ask for a second piece of information (e.g. code texted to your phone, your fingerprint, your voice print, or facial recognition). Use this for your email account, smartphone, and all financial accounts.
- Monitor bank statements often. Check for unusual activity, such as accounts or credit reports you didn’t open, incorrect personal information on your credit reports, and credit inquiries from companies that you did not contact.
- File tax returns as early as possible. This partly reduces the risk of someone filing a fraudulent claim in your name if you can get your information in first.
- Delete suspicious emails and do not reveal personal information to callers. Be wary of fraudulent email messages that appear to come from legitimate entities, such as your bank, the IRS, your employer, or any company you do business with. Do not provide personal information to anyone that initiates contact with you by email or phone. If you receive a call from someone at Equifax asking you to verify your financial details, it is not really Equifax. Hackers know how to disguise a caller ID to look like the real company. Simply hang up.
Not only is it important to protect your own personal information, but as a business owner or executive, it is crucial to safeguard the data of your clients and employees. Equifax is facing intense legal, financial, and reputational damage because they did not take the necessary security precautions to protect their clients. To avoid a similar fate, we strongly suggest that you ask us about cybersecurity protections every business should have in place today.
Free Data Breach Risk Assessment
Before you unplug, throw your hands up in despair, and go back to pen and paper for everything, consider signing up for our FREE Data Breach Risk Assessment, an on-site consultation that includes:
- Password strength check. Strong and unique passwords are a must for safeguarding your computer network, but are your employees actually following this best practice? We can verify whether or not your employee passwords are on the digital black market.
- Network security check. We investigate firewall and antivirus settings to verify if anything is jeopardizing your data’s security.
- Patch updates check. This determines if any critical patches to vulnerable programs have been missed.
- Backup and disaster recovery review. In case your business is hit by a natural disaster or a digital one like ransomware, this check makes sure you won’t lose a single critical file.
- Training documents review. The biggest security vulnerability is human nature. This review makes sure your employees are fully educated about the correct way to handle email, documents, and general internet usage.
- Security risk discussion. We’ll cover ransomware trends and clearly explain where your vulnerabilities lay so you can take proactive measures to reduce risks to your data security.
Depending on what we discover, we’ll either give you a clean bill of health, or we’ll reveal gaps in your security planning that could prove disastrous if left unaddressed. If appropriate, we’ll provide you with an action plan to strengthen your systems and secure your data.
After you receive the assessment results, what comes next is up to you. While we, of course, would be happy to welcome you aboard as a client, this assessment does not commit you to anything. We do not expect you to purchase products or services, but we do anticipate that you’ll get a taste of peace of mind when it comes to protecting your company’s data.
Ready to get started? Book your free assessment here. Or, feel free to give us a call at 317-372-7625 for scheduling assistance.