Another Darn Breach? How to Protect Your Personal Data

The stream of headlines is demoralizing: 

• In April, 3.4 million records were stolen from Citizens Bank and posted on the dark web by the cybercriminals, according to a class action lawsuit filed against the bank.
• The New York public health provider NYC Health and Hospitals reported in March that a breach had resulted in the exposure of about 1.8 million patients’ records, including health insurance information.
• In December, the massive sportswear company Under Armor alerted 72.7 million customers that their data had been exposed in a ransomware attack.

These are just a fraction of the hundreds of companies that have experienced recent data breaches — where unauthorized individuals gain access to sensitive or confidential information, such as personal identifiers (Social Security numbers, financial records, health data), without the owner’s knowledge or consent. Criminals use various methods to access this valuable data, including ransomware attacks, phishing, insider leaks, employee mistakes, and weak security systems.

It’s an epidemic: In the first quarter of 2026, the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) tracked 780 compromises affecting more than 140 million individuals.

State and federal laws require companies to notify people if their information was involved in a breach. Regardless, you should assume your personal details are out there somewhere, and take steps to protect yourself from identity theft (as explained below).

Information about you is likely for sale on the dark web 

It’s likely that your most personal, sensitive information is already available on the dark web, the mysterious corridor of the internet where criminals traffic in our data. “If you are an adult in the United States, there is a better chance than not that your information is available through an identity criminal,” says James E. Lee, the ITRC’s chief operating officer. The good news, he adds: “Not everyone’s information has been misused” because not everyone’s identity is of equal value. But if you are targeted, the consequences can be devastating. 

9 ways to help reduce the risk of ID theft 

1. Freeze your credit. By putting a credit freeze in place with all three major credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — no credit can be issued until you lift the freeze with each of them. Such freezes are free and do not affect your credit score. 

Visit the agencies online or call them to request a freeze that must be fulfilled within one business day. Agencies have three business days if you send the request by mail. 

If you’re about to buy a new home or car or otherwise need to apply for credit once a freeze is in place, agencies must comply with your request to lift the freeze within an hour. You can put it back once your transaction is complete.