Whether you like it or not, your credit rating is all important. Besides determining if you can get a credit card or not, it's also critical for buying a house, how much you pay in interest when you get credit, and even if someone will rent you an apartment. So, it wasn't great when one of the big three credit rating companies, Equifax, revealed it had been cracked due to complete security incompetence

Issue a Credit Freeze

Allow lenders to see your report for a limited period.

Allow specific lenders to see your report for a short period of time.

Remove the Security Freeze entirely.

Experian

TransUnion

Equifax (If you dare. We know - but they're still one of the options.)

Additional credit protection

Worse still, Equifax admitted that for at least weeks, if not months, 143 million names, social-security numbers (SSN), birth dates, home addresses, and more private information was all exposed. In short, everything a thief would ever need to steal your identity was up for grabs. Thanks Equifax! We appreciate it!The good news is there are plenty of ways you can protect your privacy and your personal data, both online and out in the real world. Here are five steps you can take right now to safeguard your identity and your private data.For starters, you should freeze your credit. This isn't just a good idea, it's a necessity. Without a credit freeze you may live in Pennsylvania, but find yourself with a brand-new credit card in California. Which, oh by the way, has been used to buy a new car.By placing a freeze on the major credit rating accounts, the vast majority of companies that want to get your credit data are locked out from your information. When you need to get credit, you can still:To put a freeze on you must go to the following sites:How much you'll pay to freeze your account varies from service to service and from state to state. For example, in North Carolina you don't have to pay a dime.When it comes to security, the credit reporting agencies range from barely functional to totally incompetent. For example, even after Equifax made the biggest security blunder in history, Experian allowed anyone to retrieve your personal identification number (PIN) needed to unlock your frozen credit record. That being the case, while freezing your credit records is the one thing you must do, you should also consider protecting your identity with an identity-theft protection service.I used to only recommend these if your identity had already been compromised. Unfortunately, thank to Equifax, your name and SSN are almost certainly already out there.At a minimum you want one that tracks your financial activity and your personal information. You also want a service that alerts you by email or text when there are large changes to any account balance or credit card expenses. The sooner you're alerted, the better your chances of stopping a thief in their tracks.There are three services I recommend:Yes, they're expensive, but so is having someone rip you off for thousands of dollars in credit card expenses.

Be careful what you share online

Lock down your passwords

Check your records yourself

Yes, I agree it's great that you finally went on your dream vacation in France. And, yes, those photos of you and the whole family are charming. But, can you really be that surprised to find your house burglarized when you got back when you were the one who shared all those vacation photos on Facebook and Instagram?Seriously, do not post vacation photos, status updates, and tag everyone and their dog when you're away from home. It will only end in tears. Several years ago, when "checking in" to locations with services like Foursquare was all the rage, PleaseRobMe.com was launched as (thankfully) a parody and cautionary tale. Checked in to a location far from home and broadcast that fact to the whole world? You've just invited someone to come rob you!It's an extreme example, but the point still stands. Think twice what you broadcast to public circles.We live our lives online, so that means we need to protect our online lives. The most basic thing you can do to protect your online identity and passwords is to clear the cache of your login IDs and passwords anytime you're on a PC that's not yours.On your own machines, I recommend using password managers. My two favorites are Google's surprisingly competent Chrome web-browser built-in password manager and LastPass . Everyone will tell you not to use simple passwords and to change them frequently. Those are both great ideas, but it's a best practice even dedicated security advocates can easily fall behind on, which can make a secure password management service a good choice.I also recommend not driving yourself crazy trying to memorize what the cat wrote when he jumped on the keyboard, "dsfsdf812." Instead, you use an easy-to-remember but nonsensical phrase instead. For example, "Horse$Trot...", "Warriors?Win!Lakers?Lose!" or "Volt!Amp!Tesla!Edison?" are both easy to remember and far less likely to be revealed by guessing or brute force.I find it boring as boring can be, but it's a top-notch idea to go over your credit card and bank balances every once in a while using a close eye. Checking your records regularly so you can spot anything off goes a heck of a long way toward keeping you protected, and will give you better insight into how you're spending your money, to boot.Sure, your credit card company should call you if something's awry, but that doesn't mean they will. I've known people who had credit cards nickled and dimed at local businesses by a "friend." At the end of the day, you, and you only, are the final like of defense to make sure you're safe.Finally, It's a terribly 20th century concept, but you should also be sure that your financial institutions have your correct mailing address. Once upon a time, I had a friend who had their credit card "disappear" on him. What had actually happened was he'd moved, and someone filled a bogus change of address form and then had his credit card company send him a replacement card to his "new" address.In the same archaic vein, you can also still have your ID swiped if someone, for example, grabs your 2009 tax forms you dumped in the trash. Shred all cards and financial documents before disposing of them.True, to make real money, crooks want to grab thousand of identities, but your garden-variety scofflaw will be happy to make some coin by dumpster diving. So, if you do all these things you'll be safe, right?Sadly, the answer is still no. An Equifax-style meltdown is always just one major meltdown away. Believe it or not, the SSN was never meant to be an ID number , but we've used it that way for much too long. Now, it's coming back to bite us. But the good news is by adopting these methods, however you'll be as safe as anyone can be these days. Good luck!