Data Breaches May Affect Wisconsin Consumers

In recent months, a number of large-scale data breaches have potentially impacted billions of online accounts. Data breaches happen when information, which is supposed to be kept secure, has been compromised and has the potential to be accessed by unauthorized users. They can result from bugs in software, mistakes by an authorized user, or a cyberattack designed to steal data. Consumers who receive a data breach notification should:

· Do research to verify that the breach happened.

· Find out more information about the breach from the company that notified them.

· Take advantage of any free credit monitoring services they are offered.

· Monitor their credit report for any issues and take action if any are identified.

· Place a fraud alert on their credit report with one of the three major credit reporting agencies to be notified of any activity.

· Place a security freeze by contacting all three credit reporting agencies to lock down activity.