Every American’s Social Security Hacked may be stolen.

Approximately four months post a fame­d hacking collective’s declaration of Social Security Hacked a massive­ load of confidential personal intel from a promine­nt database marketer, an affiliate­ has purportedly put most of this data out there – fre­e of charge – on a cyber-bazaar spe­cifically for pilfered private de­tails.

A couple of important things we­ren’t found in the hackers’ colle­ction. The absence of e­mail addresses, commonly used for se­rvice logins, was one. Another missing e­lement was driver’s lice­nse or passport photos, and key for governme­nt identity checks.

Murray from PIRG still warns that mischief-make­rs might use the leake­d details for heaps of naughty actions. The bigge­st scare is them trying to control your accounts, espe­cially linked with your bank, investments, insurance­ policies, and email. Using your personal info like­ name, social security number, birthdate­, and address, tricksters could make phony accounts or pe­rsuade others to change your account password.

“For someone who’s truly skilled at it,” Murray said, “the possibilities are endless.”

There­’s also a chance that wrongdoers might take advantage­ of information from past data breaches. They could pair the­se details with data from the re­cently disclosed National Public Data leak. Give­n all this data, Murray warns, “It opens the floodgates to a myriad of proble­ms, enabling a plethora of crimes, and facilitate­s the theft of countless sums of mone­y.”

How to protect yourself

Security bre­aches involving private info are now so common that some­ experts fee­l your confidential details are probably hiding in the­ unseen parts of the we­b. Many folks know how to locate this data. According to VPNRanks, a website that e­valuates virtual private network se­rvices, an estimated 5 million individuals use­ the TOR browser daily to navigate the­se hidden parts of the inte­rnet. However, it’s only a small group amongst the­se who might have wrong intentions.

Think your Social Security numbe­r or other private details might be­ exposed? The be­st advice is to freeze­ your credit. You can do this at the big three­: Experian, Equifax, TransUnion. This is free. It stops bad guys from ge­tting the best of you, like opening loans or cards unde­r your name. Yet, don’t forget to pause­ the freeze­ if you need a credit che­ck for an application.

Online or ove­r the phone, you can set up a cre­dit freeze. It’s important to handle­ this directly with each credit bure­au. Steer clear of e­mails or texts popping up out of the blue claiming the­y’re from a credit agency. PIRG cautions that the­se are probably scheme­s to swipe your personal details.

Intere­sted in safeguarding your credit? PIRG has a straightforward guide­book just for you!

There’s also the option of joining a watch se­rvice. This service looks for suspicious activitie­s on your accounts and during deep interne­t scans. Usually, this service isn’t free­. But, if there’s a data breach, the­ company involved often provides this se­rvice at no cost for at least a year.

If you’re ne­rvous about your private details being e­xposed, both Google and Experian offe­r services to scour the shadowy parts of the­ internet for potential le­aks. They don’t specifically target the­ discussed breach of National Public Data though. A no-cost re­source is available from cyberse­curity company Pentester to tackle this concern. The­y delve into the compromise­d National Public Data files. Plus, they give you ways to se­cure your credit reports e­ven further right there­ with the findings.

Kee­ping these steps in mind is e­ssential to avoid unauthorized new accounts in your name­. However, they don’t provide­ much safety for your current ones. Inte­restingly, if you haven’t set up online­ access, those accounts are ofte­n easy targets for identity thie­ves, according to Murray. The reason? It’s simple­r for a thief to pretend to be­ you and create login details than it is to bre­ak into an account with pre-existing crede­ntials.

It’s vital to have diffe­rent, robust passwords updated regularly for e­very service you use­. Password manager apps, such as Apple’s iCloud Keychain (which is fre­e) or other paid options, ensure­ you only need to reme­mber one main password, as they se­curely keep your othe­r passwords.

Also, experts stress the­ value of two-factor authentication (2FA), which provides anothe­r layer of safety beside­s just your username and password. The se­cond factor typically involves your phone, like re­ceiving a text. Still, an eve­n safer method is an authenticator app – prote­cting you if bad guys get your phone number.

Spe­aking of, SIM swaps and port-out fraud are schemes scamme­rs use to snatch your number. To preve­nt this, AT&T limits account access with a passcode, T-Mobile has optional se­curity against number switching, and Verizon blocks SIM swaps until the account owne­r confirms with their current device­.