Their email stated that they would contact those who have been breached. It appears that everyone was breached. I think that means that they will try and hide the care package (1 year of free credit monitoring) in snail mail so they don't have to pay out.
I already locked my credit and now I'm thinking it's time to freeze my credit so no one can take out new lines without me unfreezing it or increased authentication.
I am learning how this is all working, but if you think about it, it's silly to wait for a breach to have your data locked down.
You pay a one-time fee to each of the three credit bureaus. The fee varies by state (around $5-$10, may be less for seniors, usually free for identity theft victims). You can do this online.
If you need to unfreeze (eg. applying for a new credit card or a loan), you need to pay another fee per credit bureau, so you should find out which bureau will be used. You can unfreeze permanently, unfreeze for a short time period, or get an authorization code that you can give to whoever needs to check your credit report.
No, this is in the case of fraud, and then unlock it after 3 months. If you want it frozen until you rescind it, it costs $10 per bureau, but there may be an exception for fraud.
In addition to reading that, I signed up for one of those credit monitoring/protection sites. The one I chose was TransUnion, but I'm still learning about this stuff. I suggest you look around.
I already locked my credit and now I'm thinking it's time to freeze my credit so no one can take out new lines without me unfreezing it or increased authentication.
I am learning how this is all working, but if you think about it, it's silly to wait for a breach to have your data locked down.