Equifax, one of the three major credit bureaus, confirmed recently that more than 145 million customer records were breached in a hack that began in mid-May and continued through July of this year. Compromised data reportedly included names, birthdates, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and physical addresses, as well as some credit card numbers and dispute documents with personal identifying information. The breach was discovered on July 29, and its full impact is still to be determined.

Data breaches and the theft of personal information are nothing new. In August 2013, Yahoo reported a massive data breach associated with more than 1 billion user accounts. Fortunately, the stolen information did not include payment card data or bank account information. A data breach at Target during the 2013 Christmas shopping season included the personal information of 70 million people; and credit and debit card information, including customer names, account numbers and expiration dates may have been compromised.