I received an email alert the other day from a credit monitoring service that my name, mailing and email address, phone number, SSN and DOB had been part of a data breach. A company I’ve never heard of, National Public Data, was hacked and it is alleged that 2.9 billion records were stolen. NPD called it a ‘Security Incident.’ Their response is as laughable as it is inadequate.
Here’s the frustrating part: the credit monitoring service that notified me of my stolen data is one I signed up for after my data was stolen from another company. You see where this is going.
If you haven’t already placed a freeze on your credit with the credit bureaus, now might be the time to do so. It’s not particularly difficult, though it does take a little time. Here’s a great article that explains the process.
Freezing your credit is a highly effective tool to protect yourself, but it’s not foolproof. It won’t prevent fraudsters from using stolen credit card numbers or existing accounts, and it’s important to regularly monitor your financial statements and credit reports for suspicious activity. Think of a credit freeze as a key layer in your overall financial security strategy—one that’s easy to implement and gives you another piece of armor in an increasingly risky landscape.
Another equally important step for limiting exposure to fraudsters is the use of a password manager. In a world where everything from banking to social media requires a password, it’s tempting to fall into the habit of using the same one across multiple sites or relying on easy-to-remember choices. But those habits are risky — data breaches can expose your passwords, and once a hacker gets one, they can try it on all your accounts.
A password manager solves this problem by generating strong, unique passwords for each account, securely storing them, and automatically filling them in when needed. This significantly strengthens your online security without requiring you to remember a long list of complicated passwords.
Beyond convenience, password managers can alert you to weak or reused passwords and even notify you if any of your stored credentials have been involved in a known data breach. Many password managers also come with features like two-factor authentication integration, which adds another layer of security to your accounts. In short, using a password manager isn’t just about making life easier—it’s about giving yourself peace of mind in an increasingly digital and breach-prone world.
