It seems every week we hear about a data breach on the news at a major company or government institution.\u00a0 Recent breaches at Equifax, Yahoo, IRS, Target, and OPM are a few good examples.\u00a0 So what should you do when a data breach notification letter arrives in your mailbox, or you simply hear about it in the news cycle?\u00a0 \u00a0My short answer is — don’t panic and pay close attention.<\/p>\n
Faced with a breach notice, most people either ignore it, panic, or start closing accounts.\u00a0 \u00a0All of these are not helpful so we recommend these steps:<\/p>\n
So What should I do moving forward?\u00a0 Keep up good data-management habits by shredding sensitive documents before throwing them in the trash; use a locking mailbox; and take advantage of the Do Not Call registry.<\/a><\/p>\n Let’s face it, if you haven’t received a breach notification letter yet, you probably will in the future.\u00a0 Not all breaches are created equal and some are worse than others.<\/p>\n If it involves your credit card or debit card, chances are your bank will issue you a new one if they think the risk is high (you can always request a new card if you’re concerned).\u00a0 If your SSN, birth date, and address are compromised, they have a long shelf life and can be used by cyber-criminals next month, next year, or two years from now — you get the point.\u00a0 For this reason, take the necessary precaution that’s proportional to your risk level.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It seems every week we hear about a data breach on the news at a major company or government institution.\u00a0 Recent breaches at Equifax, Yahoo, IRS, Target, and OPM are a few good examples.\u00a0 So what should you do when … Continue reading