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Last week\u2019s staggering data breach at National Public Data put personal data, including the Social Security numbers, of billions of Americans in the hands of cybercriminals.<\/p>\n
The breach occurred late last year and the company acknowledged on its website<\/a> last week that there were \u201cpotential leaks of certain data in April 2024 and summer 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n Data reaching back at least three decades is said to be included in the breach\u2014and the inclusion of Social Security numbers has raised a number of concerns among people. Curious if you were affected? Here\u2019s how to find out.<\/p>\n Pentester, a cybersecurity firm, has set up a tool to let you see if your data was part of the breach. Use a web browser to navigate to npd.pentester.com<\/a> and enter your first and last name and birth year. You\u2019ll see a list of breached accounts, including the last four numbers of the leaked Social Security numbers.<\/p>\n NPD is advising people who might have been affected to closely monitor their financial accounts. Most Americans don\u2019t keep close tabs on their checking and saving balance and don\u2019t examine every item on their credit card bill \u2013 and hackers count on that.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a good idea to set up credit monitoring to ensure no one is using your personal information\u2014and contact one of the three U.S. credit reporting agencies (Equifax<\/a>, Experian<\/a>, and TransUnion) to\u00a0set up a fraud alert on your account, which will tell creditors to contact you before they open any new accounts or change your existing accounts. (Once it\u2019s set up with one agency, it will go into effect with the others. It remains active for one year and can be renewed.)<\/p>\n If you\u2019re especially worried about identity theft, there\u2019s another option: A credit freeze<\/a>, which prevents new credit from being issued without your direct permission.<\/p>\n \u201cYour best protection against someone opening new credit accounts in your name is the security freeze (also known as the credit freeze), not the often-offered, under-achieving credit monitoring,\u201d notes the U.S. Public Interest Research Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nHow can I find out if my Social Security number was part of the breach?<\/h2>\n
What should I do if my Social Security number was included in the breach?<\/h2>\n
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