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It was just over two months ago when the State Office of Motor Vehicles alerted residents that their personal data was compromised in a cyber security breach. James Lee with the Identify Theft Resource Center said it was the MOVEit File Transfer System that OMV used, and others affected individuals across the globe.
“In the United States we know of 160 different organizations and those 160 organizations represent at least 40 million people,” said Lee.
Lee said they are still finding more and more organizations have been impacted and he expects those numbers to grow. He said there are other states like Louisiana that had an entire database of information stolen.
And while some might think if nothing’s happened by now, they are in the clear, Lee said otherwise. He said criminals are using the information to impersonate people…
“To open up new accounts, so you might not know that they’re using your information. They may be applying for unemployment benefits in another state, and you would never know that until some other event happens down the road,” said Lee.
Lee said there are things that people need to do to protect their information and things you can do to make it less useful when their information is stolen. OMV is offering free credit monitoring service for those with a Louisiana driver’s license or state-issued ID, and he said you should take advantage of that. But the most important thing you should do is to freeze your credit.
“That way no one can use your information to open up a new account in your name if it involves your credit,” said. Lee.
He said you can do that online with credit bureaus and when you need to apply for credit, you unfreeze it, and then when you’ve finished applying you freeze your credit again.
ITRC is a 24-year-old non-profit organization that assists individuals who are victims of identity crimes.
For more information or where to obtain free credit monitoring, click here.
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