Bluerobin
Sadly, far too many folks just don't take the security of their information seriously enough. And in todays world, far too many folks are so desensitized to data breaches, it is almost a non event in their opinion.
There are documented cases in which; personal information has been hijacked and the breach disclosed; but to which nothing immediately happens to any of the affected persons. Then all of a sudden a few years later, all manner of bad things crop up; from calls out of the blue from debit collectors, to denial of loans, to a bank telling the person they are overdrawn when the person thought they were ok (and their last check said they were ok).
However, there are things people can do which can put themselves in a better position against these things:
{1} You can LOCK your credit reports. This prevents anyone from accessing it (except Law enforcement of course); if someone {including you} tries to open a new credit card or get a loan, Etc.; they will be told that the credit report is unavailable and thus they can't be approved for whatever it is.
Now here is important information about this, you can temporarily unlock your credit report, if you are say going for a loan or a new credit card and then once approved Lock it right back up.
Additional to this, you yourself still have access to your credit report via whichever bureau's service you joined to monitor your credit (personally We use Transunion's and at less than $20 a month it is small change to gain peace of mind and know what is going on, before something happens)
{2} Monitor your credit. Sign up to a monthly monitoring service from one of the Credit Bureau's (Experian might not be a wise choice as they were recently breached as well). The monthly cost is small, the damage you can prevent by paying for a service like this is huge.
When you use a service like this not only can you see your credit report any time you like, but you can also see your FICO score, Lock your credit report, find potentially erroneous information which then you can work at correcting before it becomes an issue.
{3} Change your passwords frequently; how often depends on how concerned you are at protecting your personal information.
And when creating a password keep in mind these "rules" for maximum effect:
{A} Make it at least 15 characters long (longer is harder to crack)
{B} Use a combination of symbols like { * & ^ !; Numbers & Letters (Also make a few of the letters UPPER Case)
Surprising factoid for you: Did you know that (even in this day and age) the most common passwords still are: PASSWORD, PASSWORD123, 123PASSWORD & 12345678 ?
Personally being as neurotic about security as We are; all of Our Passwords are between 12 and 64 characters in length, depending on how sensitive or risk prone the underlying information is (banks and brokerages are Our longest, the one here is Our shortest).
{4} Limit online shopping and use only well known trusted sites (make sure that it is a HTTPS)
{5} Request companies remove your Card information from their sites (stored Card data is one of the biggest culprits in Identity Theft)
{6} Ask companies that your deal with to present a challenge each time you interact with them (Time Warner asks me for last 4 and favorite coffee, even if I am face to face with a representative), most companies will oblige this request.
--------------------------------------------------------
Personally, I think it is a sick joke that Scotttrade would tell folks "don't worry about changing your password", and I find it seriously appalling that a Financial firm would be so lackadaisical about extremely sensitive financial information, that they didn't even know that a breach had happened; until the FBI showed up and told them.
So what that they are reacting now, after the fact? It is like saying "Geeze, I really should have a smoke detector & fire sprinklers installed in my home"; after your home has burned to the ground.
They should have been paying a hell of a lot closer attention to what they were doing and what was going on with their data systems; instead of sitting around with their thumbs up their a**es.
But, now because they weren't; folks like you have to deal with the aftermath & fret that the real catastrophe hasn't yet occurred and could still occur.
Data Security and protecting your personal information is vitally important. And when someone screws the pooch (like scotttrade did); it is on the shoulders of those affected to ensure that they are secure.
I apologize, for any angst that my responses may have or might be causing you; but I am not one to ever try and sugar coat a pile of donkey s*** and call it chocolate cake.
