Equifax security breach, what you need to know...

Equifax Security Breach

No market related info in this blog.  Just a friendly note to let you know that Equifax was hacked and your personal info could be at risk.  We advise you to pay close attention to your personal info and monitoring appropriately.  I personally have requested my credit report and will watch all accounts closer than normal.  For those that are not aware of this situation, please pay special attention to the following information.

Equifax announced last Thursday a cyber breach of its systems potentially affecting about 143 million people. The attack, second in size only to those last year at Yahoo, affects twice as many people as the J.P. Morgan Chase attack nearly three years ago.

The three nationwide credit reporting companies – TransUnion, Experian and Equifax – receive data about you from a wide range of sources, including credit card companies, retailers, lenders and banks. In the Equifax breach, cybercriminals mined the four crucial pieces of consumer information needed to apply for loans and credit cards: names, Social Security numbers, addresses and birth dates. Banks will now have to reissue cards for the 209,000 people whose credit card numbers were also exposed.

Although Equifax hasn’t found any evidence of unauthorized activity, the company is offering one year of free credit file monitoring and identify theft protection through TrustedID Premier, even if you haven’t been affected. Equifax won’t contact everyone who was affected. To see if your information is at risk, go to https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/, click on the Potential Impact button at the bottom of the page, and enter your last name and last six digits of your Social Security number. Click submit, and you’ll receive a message stating whether your information is at risk and how to sign up for the free service. 

Monitoring won’t begin until Sept. 11 at the earliest, so you won’t know right away if your information was in fact compromised. By receiving the free service, you agree to submit any complaints to arbitration; you won’t be able to sue, join a class-action suit or benefit from a class-action settlement. You can opt out by notifying Equifax in writing within 30 days of accepting the service.

As a precaution, you may want to place fraud alerts on your credit reports, so lenders must verify your identity before issuing credit in your name. You can also contact one of the three credit agencies and put a long-term freeze on your credit. The credit agency is then required to notify the other two. A freeze can last for 90 days and is renewable.

Unitl next time.....

Darin