Credit monitoring is not credit fixing if the hack causes you problems.
That's funny... send the info that the hackers want to a credit monitoring company that just got hacked so they can tell you if the info that was stolen in the hack will affect your credit rating if it is used by the hackers. Did they hack themselves?
If you really want to protect your identity and credit, ...
I don't believe there is a 100% sure fire way to do that.
Unfortunately it seems the best anybody could do is deal in all cash, no cards, no credit, no electronic anything. And if you could somehow separate from having a SS number. You know, like an illegal immigrant.
"equifaxsecurity2017.com site is completely broken at best, and little more than a stalling tactic or sham at worst. In the early hours after the breach announcement, the site was being flagged by various browsers as a phishing threat. In some cases, people visiting the site were told they were not affected, only to find they received a different answer when they checked the site with the same information on their mobile phones. It's clear Equifax's goal isn't to protect the consumer or bring them vital information. It's to get you to sign up for its revenue-generating product TrustID."
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/09/equifax-breach-response-turns-dumpster-fire/
"equifaxsecurity2017.com site is completely broken at best, and little more than a stalling tactic or sham at worst. In the early hours after the breach announcement, the site was being flagged by various browsers as a phishing threat. In some cases, people visiting the site were told they were not affected, only to find they received a different answer when they checked the site with the same information on their mobile phones. It's clear Equifax's goal isn't to protect the consumer or bring them vital information. It's to get you to sign up for its revenue-generating product TrustID."
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2017/09/equifax-breach-response-turns-dumpster-fire/
"Credit monitoring" is not only pretty much useless, it is a scam to try and get people to sign-up for a very profitable service. Most of them have draconian "auto-renewal" after the "free trial" or "free year" and they count on people forgetting to cancel and or being scared. The services can't and don't stop any abuse, but just allow you to SEE what is on your credit report and some will attempt to notify you when it is accessed. Both require you to take quick action, do something, fight things, etc.
If you really want to protect your identity and credit, then it requires "locking" or "freezing" your credit reports. That didn't used to be possible, but now it is. But rather than making it easy and centralized, one has to enroll/setup AND pay about $10 to each of the 3 agencies.
http://clark.com/personal-finance-credit/credit-freeze-and-thaw-guide/
Of course, you then have "thaw" them if you ever apply for credit or need your credit score checked by any company that requires a credit check before opening an account or doing business. That even means things that have NOTHING to do with opening a new line of credit, for example: enrolling in cell phone service, opening a bank account, being hired by some employers, getting certain types of licenses, getting utilities turned on (water/electric/gas), etc.
And don't forget, if you have a security freeze (credit freeze) applied to your accounts after paying the fee and then you need to 'thaw' your accounts for whatever reason, you'll have to pay the fee all over again to have them frozen.
That said, I'll be freezing all my accounts this week.