Last week’s staggering data breach at National Public Data put personal data, including the Social Security numbers, of millions of Americans in the hands of cybercriminals. Data reaching back at least three decades is said to be included in the breach—and the inclusion of Social Security numbers has raised a number of concerns among people. Curious if you were affected? Here’s how to find out.
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00Last week's staggering data breach at National Public Data put personal data, including the
00:04Social Security numbers of millions of Americans, in the hands of cybercriminals.
00:08The breach occurred late last year, and the company acknowledged on its website last week
00:12that there were potential leaks of certain data in April 2024 and summer 2024.
00:17Data reaching back at least three decades is said to be included in the breach, and
00:21the inclusion of Social Security numbers has raised a number of concerns among people.
00:25Curious if you were affected?
00:26Here's how to find out.
00:28Pentester, a cybersecurity firm, has set up a tool to let you see if your data was part
00:32of the breach.
00:33Use a web browser to navigate to npd.pentester.com and enter your first and last name and birth
00:38year.
00:39You'll see a list of breached accounts, including the last two digits of the leaked Social Security
00:42numbers.
00:43NPD is advising people who might have been affected to closely monitor their financial
00:47accounts.
00:48Most Americans don't keep close tabs on their checking and saving balances and don't examine
00:52every item on their credit card bills, and hackers are counting on that.
00:56It's also a good idea to set up credit monitoring to ensure no one is using your personal information.
01:00And contact one of the three U.S. credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion,
01:06to set up a frauduler on your account, which will tell creditors to contact you before
01:09they open any new accounts or change your existing accounts.
01:13Once it's set up with one agency, it will go into effect with the others.
01:16It remains active for one year and can be renewed.
01:20If you're especially worried about identity theft, there's another option, a credit freeze,
01:24which prevents new credit from being issued without your direct permission.
01:28According to notes from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, your best protection against
01:31someone opening new credit accounts in your name is the security freeze, not the often-offered
01:36underachieving credit monitoring.