Watch out for phishing attacks after the latest credit breach

Have your name, address, birthday, and Social Security number been leaked onto the web before? You should probably be on alert.

- ALAINA YEE

Experian, one of the biggest consumer credit reporting bureaus, likely put your full credit history into the hands of identity thieves last year. On Monday, news broke of a major flaw in the company's website, which allowed anyone with your name, address, birthdate, and Social Security number to bypass a security check and get to your report.

First discovered by security researcher Jenya Kushnir, the exploit had an unknown duration and was only patched in late December 2022-seemingly after Brian Krebs of Krebs on Security, having been notified by Kushnir about the issue, brought it to Experian's attention. (You can read the full details in Kreb's post about the matter, fave.co/3GOkcPG.)