PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — Rhode Island officials continue to urge residents to take necessary steps to protect themselves after the cyberattack of RI Bridges.
On Saturday night, Governor Dan McKee held a press conference where he discussed steps people affected can follow to safeguard personal information. The following breaks down the necessary steps.
MONITOR YOUR CREDIT
Michael Tetreault, a cybersecurity advisor for homeland security recommends first monitoring your credit. To do so you can visit Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.
“Look at your credit and be sure that you know how to see if someone is trying to use your credit without your knowledge,” said Tetreault.
There are three sites that keep track of credit reports: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. These scores rate your credit; the higher your score, the better your borrowing power.
FREEZE YOUR CREDIT
If you’re seeing suspicious activity with your credit, Tetreault recommends freezing your credit.
Important to know: if you elect to freeze your credit, you have to individually freeze your credit on all three sites (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion). You can do this over the phone, online, or by mail.
If you choose to unfreeze your credit, you have to do so individually with all three sites.
MULTI-FACTOR VERIFICATION
Another way to prevent hackers from sharing personal information is to implement multi-factor verification. When trying to login to an account with multi-factor verification it would then send an alternate code to your phone that would be required for entry into your account. This would confirm your identity. You can usually get this code via text or by phone. NEVER SHARE THIS CODE WITH ANYONE!
LONGER PASSWORDS
Tetreault said he urges people to use longer and more complex passwords as well.
“Having something that is four letters long unfortunately in this modern society is not sufficient," Tetreault said.
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