How to protect yourself after massive theft of social security data

LOS ANGELES -- If you've been receiving data-breach notices from companies you deal with, you are not alone.

But experts say if you take the right steps, you can keep the bad guys from accessing your credit.

Earlier this month, roughly 3 billion records including sensitive personal information like names and social security numbers of millions of Americans were hacked in a massive data breach at National Public Data.

Hackers have also struck scores of other major U.S. companies like T-Mobile, AT&T and Ticketmaster, gaining access to sensitive, private data.

"With all these other breaches we've had, just about all of our social security numbers are already out there and floating around on the Dark Web," said Clifford Neuman, director of USC's Center for Computer System Security.

And while that's bad, Neuman says there are actions to take in order to make sure you don't get burned by data thieves.

The first step is to be wary of emails you get warning of data breaches.

"Don't go clicking on the links in the notice itself because sometimes criminals themselves will spam you with fake notices," he said. "By logging onto that internet site you're actually giving the criminals the information they're trying to get."

Neuman says whenever you receive a data breach notice or any correspondence from a financial entity, it's best to go to the company's site by using your browser instead of any suggested links that may be fake.

The breaches have put countless people in jeopardy of having their identity stolen, something experts say is best prevented than repaired.

"It is very intrusive, it doesn't feel good and it's not easy to fix," said Angela Setters Bessard, who hosts a podcast called The Real Credit Queen.

She says one of the best moves consumers can do is to freeze their credit at all the credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, TransUnion and the lesser known Innovis.

"It cuts off the thieves at the knees because as soon as they go to try to use your credit, they're going to come up with a blank screen," she said.

Credit freezes are free under federal law. Setters Bessard says agencies also offer credit locks which are similar to freezes, but will cost you money.

If you do freeze your credit, it will add some extra steps should you want to apply for a new loan.

"When you want to apply for credit you need to go and unfreeze it before you do that application, but that's probably one of the more effective things you can do," Neuman said.