Customer info exposed again: Suffering data-breach fatigue?
Posted By RichC on October 4, 2014
The year 2014 is turning up to be the year of the data-breach. It seems every month another high profile company reports that their clients and customer data has been compromised. JP Morgan Chase is the most recent and perhaps the largest loss of data – a information from a “mere” 76 million households and 7 million small businesses [sarcasm]. Unlike Target and Home Depot, JP Morgan Chase is a bank and handles more of people’s financial information which to me is a higher risk (???) … but they told customers "there is no evidence that your account numbers, passwords, user IDs, date of birth or Social Security number were compromised during this attack." The bank went on to report to the press that they haven’t seen any fraudulent activity related to the breach and that “we don’t believe that you need to change your password or account information.” (cough, cough)
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What should you do (4 steps below):
- Change your login information. Chase told customers it doesn’t believe there’s a need for them to change their usernames and passwords. But it can’t hurt, especially if you’ve used that same login on other sites – see CNBC.
- Monitor your accounts. Even if “currently” there isn’t evidence of fraud, that doesn’t mean your data is 100% safe.
- Scrutinize bank communications. Watch for emails phishing for additional access information.
- Check your FREE credit report each year to be sure other accounts have not been opened in your name … a nightmare more challenging than fraudulent bank transactions (which are usually covered by the banks).
A final online item to consider:
What is your exposure IF hacker gain access to the “online” information archived by Mint (now by Quicken), Personal Capital, YNAB, Power Wallet or other financial information consolidators. No doubt they take security seriously, but then so do big banks and retailers … I’m just sayin’.
Here’s a thought … if you are looking to make a personal budget and can work with spreadsheet, try going off-line to a personal computer template that is not something hackers are looking to access everyday. For example, Savvy Spreadsheets has a easy to use “Super Deluxe Budget” template that might help keep your financial house in order — review ($15) – or give their “Super Basic Budget” a try first (free).
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