11/14/2026

4 FTC-backed ways to guard your credit, from freezes to fraud alerts

Quartz

Identity thieves work with names, Social Security numbers and account details, and hackers are taking that information from the companies that store it faster than any one person could keep track of. Companies sent out more than 471 million breach notices to victims in the first half of 2026 alone, according to Identity Theft Resource Center figures reported by CNBC. At that volume, most readers' details likely sit in at least one stolen file. The risk comes through ordinary services people use without a second thought, not only through careless habits. Yahoo Finance reports that hackers broke into Canvas, a piece of educational software. That one attack led to 275 million victim notices. No one can opt out of this. The data sits with companies people deal with every day, and keeping it safe is out of the consumer's hands.

People face a bigger problem than the number of breaches, because they often can't learn what leaked or whether it was theirs. Just 24% of the notices companies sent from January through June 2026 told recipients anything about what had happened, according to CNBC. Most people who get a warning are left guessing about what needs protecting. "Where you live determines if you find out [about a breach], and if you do find out, what you're told," James Lee, president of the Identity Theft Resource Center, said. Anyone who waits for a warning is betting on the state they happen to live in. A sounder defense works no matter what was stolen and goes into place before any notice arrives. It guards the moment a thief tries to open credit in someone else's name.