October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita wants Hoosiers to be prepared for cyber criminals.
Making sure businesses have the appropriate cybersecurity controls has become a necessary step in today’s economy. The average cost incurred by a business from a data breach is now more than $4 million, and the average cost of a healthcare data breach has skyrocketed to over $10 million, according to an Indiana Attorney General’s Office news release.
Cyberattacks do not only affect schools and businesses, but they also affect individuals and can potentially destroy people’s lives by taking their hard-earned money, the AG’s office says.
The Attorney General’s Office shared the following tips to help keep Hoosiers and their families protected from cyber crime:
- Monitor your credit — Credit monitoring services track your credit report and alert you whenever a change is made, such as a new account or a large purchase. Most services will notify you within 24 hours of any change to your credit report. Most major credit cards now offer monitoring services at no cost.
- Place a fraud alert on your credit report — A fraud alert tells lenders and creditors to take extra steps to verify your identity before issuing credit. You can place a fraud alert by contacting any one of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax at 1-888-766-0008, Experian at 1-888-397-3742 and TransUnion at 1-800-680-7289.
- Consider placing a free credit freeze on your credit report — Identity thieves will not be able to open a new credit account in your name while the freeze is in place. You can place a credit freeze by contacting each of the three major credit bureaus listed above.
- Contact the AG’s Office — If you believe you are a victim of identity theft, visit in.gov/attorneygeneral or call 1-800-382-5516. For additional tips, visit identitytheft.gov, a site maintained by the Federal Trade Commission.
