Earlier this year, was a data breach involving National Public Data (NPD). This was one of the largest in history, affecting 2.7 billion records, including names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, and Social Security numbers. This breach has significant implications for identity theft and financial fraud, because the exposed information can be used to open accounts or take out loans in your name.

What can you do?

• Use tools provided by cybersecurity firms like Atlas Privacy Data Corporation at npdbreach.com or Pentester at npd.pentester.com to see if your information was part of the breach.
• Freeze your credit reports at Experian.com, Equifax.com, and TransUnion.com. A freeze is a free temporary lock.

Read other articles on LDS365 about online safety.