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.
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