WISCONSIN — A hacking group gained access to records from National Public Data, a background check service, back in April. That breach was only just recently shared with consumers. 

What You Need To Know

  • Hackers are going after third and fourth parties in the supply chain; it allows them to hit thousands of businesses and then multiple millions of consumers all with one job

  • Data breaches are not always detected right away. By the time consumers are notified their information may have been available to criminals for a while

  • If your information is part of a breach initiate a fraud alert, monitor your financial accounts and credit reports and freeze or lock your credit file

  • It's also a good idea to set up layers of protection which includes two-factor authentication, using a free password manager and not reusing passwords

The company confirmed the breach included social security numbers for millions. It’s an example of a hacking trend that started last year, according to Mike Bruemmer, who is vice president and head of Experian Global Data Breach Resolution.

“Hackers are going after the third and fourth party people in the supply chain behind the original company,” Bruemmer warned. “These may be cloud providers, it may be operations processors, it could be secure file transfer. So these are the hackers’ targets because they can target these companies and hit thousands of businesses and then multiple millions of consumers all with just one job because they’re so interconnected,” he said.

So what should you do after a data breach? Bruemmer recommends layers of protection.

“In addition to doing a credit freeze it may be changing your passwords on accounts, not giving your social where you don’t have to give it out, and then using a password manager to protect your passwords and also to generate long and complex passwords,” he advised.

In many cases, data breaches are not always detected right away. According to Experian, by the time you receive a notice, your information may have been available to criminals for a while.

With that in mind, hang on to any unusual mail or emails, such as IRS tax notices, bills or statements from unfamiliar lenders. Bruemmer also said don’t click on any unfamiliar links or answer phone calls you’re not expecting. 

Watch the full interview above.