As part of our ongoing efforts to help keep our member’s personal information as safe and secure as possible, we want to remind you to always stay on the lookout for the many security threats making the rounds in cyberspace today.

Recently, we learned about a massive Equifax breach in which more than 143 million consumers may have had their information compromised, including:

• Social security numbers
• Dates of birth
• Addresses
• Driver’s license numbers
• Credit card information (for approximately 209,000 consumers)

What should you do next? Due to the high potential impact of this breach, we recommend taking the following steps:

• Determine whether you may have been affected. Through Equifax’s self-service portal, you can quickly determine whether your information may have been compromised. Enter your last name and the last six digits of your social security number and you’ll find out whether Equifax believes you’ve been affected. This process takes only a couple of minutes.
• Enroll in Equifax’s credit monitoring and identity theft protection. Equifax is now offering one free year of TrustedID Premier, its credit monitoring and identity theft protection product, to all U.S. consumers, even if you aren’t a victim.
• Once you enter your information in Equifax’s self-service portal, you’ll be given the option to enroll in TrustedID Premier. Click Enroll, and you’ll be provided with an enrollment date. Be sure to write down this date and return to the site on or after that date.
• Be wary of e-mails that come from Equifax. Because of the high number of victims, Equifax is notifying only the 209,000 consumers whose credit card information may have been affected via postal mail. Do not trust e-mails that appear to come from Equifax regarding the breach. Attackers are likely to take advantage of the situation and craft sophisticated phishing e-mails.
• Monitor your accounts for suspicious activity. Equifax’s free TrustedID Premier service can help you monitor your credit—but be sure to monitor your other important accounts and statements for any suspicious activity.

For more information, visit Equifax’s FAQs page regarding the incident. You can also visit the Federal Trade Commission at Identitytheft.gov/databreach to learn more about protecting yourself after a data breach.