National Public Data, a background reporting company, recently reported a massive cybersecurity breach of their system (
https://nationalpublicdata.com/Breach.html). This breach, first detected in December 2023, included 2.7 billion records, including nearly 900 million unique Social Security numbers. Names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses were also included in the breach.
Pentester, a cybersecurity firm, has established a tool at
https://npd.pentester.com to help determine if your information was compromised. If you have confirmed or believe your information is compromised, the following options are available:
- Enroll with a credit monitoring service.
- Use multifactor authentication whenever available.
- Enable account alerts for important accounts (for example, credit card accounts).
- Monitor your bank and credit card statements closely for suspicious activity.
- If you find evidence that your identity has been stolen, report it immediately to https://www.identitytheft.gov.
- Consider registering for fraud alerts with all credit bureaus (Equifax, Innovis, Experian, and TransUnion). These free alerts must be renewed every 90 days. An extended fraud alert can be set for a longer time period. With fraud alerts, you will be contacted before any credit applications are approved.
- Alternatively, consider using credit freezes with each of the credit bureaus. If you intend to apply for a loan or credit card, you must provide the PIN given to you during the credit freeze setup process. This service may require a small fee.
- At least once a year, obtain and review your free annual credit reports from https://www.annualcreditreport.com.
- The Federal Trade Commission recommends filing your tax returns early to help prevent fraudulent filings.