Equifax Data breach
Chances are you have heard that Equifax was hacked and information has been compromised. Unfortunately this is true. One hundred forty-three thousand accounts have been potentially compromised. Many people have already started to take action, but if you are unsure about what to do I will help you. Before we go further I am not a certified in financial anything. I am only sharing this to help you and you need to do what you feel is best for you. To make things a little easier I have included links to referenced information at the bottom of the blog.
WTF EQUIFAX
As I was researching this I found that there was an earlier data breach back in March! So, it is important that you check you credit reports and report anything unusual.
Seriously: This is what happened
How did this happen. Well it is pretty simple actually. Equifax didn't update some software they use and it exposed them to the hack. I imagine that once the hackers saw the non-updated software they were in. I am going to discuss updating in my Thursday blog, but this is really why it is so important to ensure your software and firmware on your devices are up-to-date.
What to do
The first thing you need to do is go to
https://equifaxsecurity2017.com and go through and determine if your information may have been compromised. Once you have entered your information you will need to confirm you are who you are. The system can send you a text message or an email so you can confirm your identity. Once confirmed you will then be told whether or not you may have been impacted. If you have you can sign up for Equifax's free security monitoring. No need to pull out your credit card they don't ask for this. All they ask is for you to validate your information one more time. If you weren't effected by the hack you don't need to do anything else.
Okay now what
Chances are you were effected by this breach. Before you panic the breach happened around July 29th and in my opinion if you haven't noticed anything strange then you may be okay. What I recommend doing is going to creditkarma.com and signing up for there service. Here you will get an overview of you credit via TransUnion and Equifax. You will get a simulated credit score, not your FICO score, Credit Karma is simple to use and gives you a good overview of your credit. They have also enabled monitoring of Equifax accounts. You should also order your free credit reports and review them. Since the breach happened in July it may be too soon for anything to appear, and you get one copy a year from each of the major credit bureaus.
Credit Freeze
Now I have some friends who are putting credit freezes on there accounts. This is a big deal. If you don't have any major purchases to make then this is a possibility, but if you do this you will need to lift it before you apply for a mortgage, or a car. You also can do this with all three major credit bureaus. I have a friend who is in the middle of buying a house and may have been effected by this and is unable to do the credit freeze. Please think about this before jumping in. If you go to buy a car you will need to lift it.
Relax
Finally, relax it is a big deal, but there is only so much you can do. Be smart about this and remember everything is going to be okay. If you notice anything unusual report it to the credit bureaus. If you have no major planned purchases put the credit freeze on your account. Oh, and if you are an IT or security professional Equifax is hiring!!
Please enjoy your day,
Scott H
Where did I get my info AKA References
Credit Freeze
Free Credit Reports
Equifax suffered another data breach in March!! Seriously
Equifax 2017 security check
CreditKarma
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