T-Mobile's breach exposed 15 million users through Experian, its credit-application processor. Security expert Robert Siciliano says the real defense isn't credit monitoring but a credit freeze, which locks your file until you lift it. Most people have been breached multiple times without knowing.
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Are you worried about identity theft?
Um, no, not really.
Not particularly. No, why not? I try and keep pretty good care of my stuff. Um, not really. No.
I am not.
Ever think about like your banker? Are you like worried about, you know, when you— No.
You don't think about bankers doing that. So for them to do that, it just makes me uneasy. Little worried about whether or not I want to go back to a bank to do like any business or even take out a mortgage.
E-brokerage company Scottrade announced it was the victim of a cyberattack that exposed the information of more than 4.5 million customers. T-Mobile phone company announcing that 15 million of its customers' data has been compromised. This is as a result of the company's credit application processor, Experian, getting hacked. Hotspot Shield security expert Robert Siciliano is with me now. So Robert, with T-Mobile, what I noticed, it wasn't even T-Mobile that got hacked, it was a third-party administrator. So in that case, what can consumers do?
So, unfortunately, when government agencies, corporations have your data, which they do—we live in a database society—we are at a loss. And all those consumers interviewed that said they're not concerned about identity theft, they're like cattle, you know? They have no idea what's going on. The fact of the matter is, our data is out there. It's in the hands of irresponsible organizations. And the way you protect yourself today is either identity theft protection, which—these are services that you might pay for—and/or a credit freeze. Credit freeze really is the best thing that you as a consumer can do to lock down your credit, preventing anyone, including you, until you thaw your credit from opening up new lines.
Okay, because in this instance, the T-Mobile CEO even took a lot of heat because as an effort of good faith, he said, you know what, the company that was just hacked that exposed your data— I'll put it politely— from social media for that decision. And he said, look, I'm doing the best I can. This is a quick-moving thing.
Yeah, it feels a bit like the, you know, the wolf— a fox watching the henhouse. You know, for them to be, you know, giving away or even selling credit monitoring as a result of their own breach just doesn't feel right to me. But look, you know, credit monitoring is a step in the right direction. It's a layer of protection. It can assist you in protecting your identity. But again, a credit freeze ultimately is the way that you go. Once your credit is frozen, it's locked down. You know, we are in a data breach epidemic. Pandemic today, consumers should consider their identity stolen. We've had billions of records compromised in the past decade. That means, you know, most consumers have had their records compromised at least 3 to 5 times at this point.
All right, we're going to take your advice. Credit freeze, we heard you, Robert. Thank you, Robert Siciliano, joining me there, security expert. When we come back, a
