Advice for veterans impacted by the VA data theft

Credit.com has just posted a new must-read article online with advice for the 26.5 million veterans impacted by the recent VA laptop theft. This crime, which occurred in May and was announced this week, exposed the Social Security numbers and other data on veterans who were discharged since 1975. As extraordinarily large as this crime is, it is sadly the second largest data breach incident in recent months.  In June 2005, CardSystems Solutions announced that hackers had gained access to 40 million credit card records.

In the Credit.com article, veterans are provided with instructions for placing a 90-day fraud alert on their credit files, checking their free credit reports online, reporting suspicious activity and requesting credit report file freezes. The article also outlines several of the discounted identity theft and credit monitoring services being offered to veterans by companies such as Equifax.

What do you think should be done to help protect veterans from identity theft?  Share your questions, tips and feedback about this massive data breach incident in the comments section below.