So you are part of the over 10 Million Australians have been caught up in the Optus Breach…
What do you do now?
Whilst this is a disaster for those who haven’t dealt with it before, It’s just another day in the IT Security world. That’s why I have a list of 8 Practical things you can do today to actually protect yourself, Now and into the future. So let’s get started
Get a Free Credit Check
You can’t work out if you’re fixing a problem or just being proactive if you don’t know where you’re currently at, getting your FREE Credit report is simple to do and well worth the time, There are 3 credit reporting agencies in Australia, get one, get all, it doesn’t matter just get it done
If anything on your credit history looks suspicious, you can then speak to the credit agency to help you investigate what’s happening
You can get a free credit report every 3 months to check for suspicious activity
Get FREE Credit Monitoring Subscription
Each of the 3 credit agencies have some form of monthly reporting that you can signup for, This will send you your credit history every month, so that you can keep on top of it, instead of waiting for the 3 Monthly free ones.
Upgrade to 2FA (2 Factor Authentication)
2FA is where a website or service will either send you a text, or you have to enter the digits they send to your email, or there can even be an app to use. Whilst it is a more annoying to use, It can be the difference between being hacked or being safe.
2FA is available on most major websites and is usually pretty easy to setup, I’ve compiled a list of the most common banks and websites you should have your 2FA setup
- Banks
- Email accounts
- Social media accounts
- Step by step guide with screenshots for Instagram
- Step by step guide with screenshots for Facebook
- Step by step guide with screenshots for Twitter
Signup to Email Alerts about Future Data Leaks
There are many services out there that will alert you if your email address shows up in a data leak, a great and FREE service is haveibeenpwned.com – They will send you an email if your data is leaked, they will also let you know if other data was leaked at the same time.
Get a PAID Credit Alerting Subscription
There are the free options as above, however a paid option provides a little more security, and in the case of Equifax also includes ID Insurance, they will provide money to pay for the cost of fixing the identity theft. You can check that out Here
Apply for a Credit Ban
What most people don’t know is that you can actually put a ban on applications for credit across all 3 Agencies, It’s a drastic step, but if you’re worried about it, This can certainly put your mind at ease. Just remember it will block your ability to apply for credit too, Most of the bans are 3 Month short term Bans, however you can apply for more. Information on doing that is here
Changing your License Number
The final and most drastic option is to get your license number changed, This can be done with most of the State License Agency, Some are yet to catch up with 2022 and are a little slow to handle it, but most have mustered a response to this data breach
Optus is also updating this information as they go, So you can get the latest from them here
- NSW – Change your License
- VIC – No License Change Yet… But you can flag it
- QLD – Change your License
- SA – Change your License
- WA – Wait for Optus to Notify You
- TAS – Wait for Optus to Notify You
- NT – Wait for Optus to Notify You
- ACT – Optus pays Fee
As always if you are a business who looking for help with all this, Reach out to the team at Biztactix, We have our fingers on the pulse of IT security so you don’t have to.
