Your 5-Step Guide to Handling the Equifax Breach

Identity theft has become a huge problem in recent years, and it's only likely to get bigger in the immediate future. The data breach that credit reporting bureau Equifax (NYSE: EFX) suffered from May through July exposed the vital personal information of as many as 143 million consumers. Inevitably, some of that information will make its way to identity thieves for criminal use, and it's essential that you take action to protect yourself. The following five things are especially important to do what you can to safeguard your data and avoid identity theft.

Equifax has acknowledged the severity of the breach and has taken steps to respond. The company has set up a special page on its website to offer details about the cybersecurity incident as well as information that consumers can use to protect themselves. In particular, Equifax is offering free identity theft protection and credit file monitoring services through its TrustedID Premier program. The program requires a simple enrollment procedure, and consumers can enroll through Nov. 21.

Some critics have suggested that enrolling in Equifax's service doesn't go far enough, saying that one year of coverage won't be enough to protect against information that could be used against you far into the future. That's one reason why simply using the Equifax service isn't enough and why the additional steps below are also important.

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Source: Fool.com