Data Breaches

I have a lot of conversations that start with “Did you hear about the big data breach?” My response is typically: “Which one?”, because there are just so many of them. I honestly can’t keep track of all of them. Data breaches are, sadly, common, and there’s very little we can do to prevent them.

What should you do about data breaches, if there’s no prevention? Data breaches lead to account and identity theft, so you are looking to guard against those hazards. Here are the standard recommendations:

• Keep an eye on your credit reports
• Freeze your credit with the 3 big credit agencies
• File your taxes early
• Watch all revolving accounts for unexpected/mystery charges
• Consider & discuss the value of credit monitoring services with your bank or financial advisor
• Avoid password reuse, set a unique password for each and every account
• Enable 2FA where possible
• Remain skeptical towards any unexpected emails/phone calls/texts and do not give out personal information if your spidey sense is tingling.

I wish I had more advice, but for now, we just have to hang on. For some perspective, I’ll be listing out (and adding future) noteworthy data breaches below. Note the recent National Public Data breach, as it probably affects every American and involved our addresses and SSNs. At this point, everyone should presume their info is on a list out there on the dark web.

Notable American Data Breaches