In an attempt to help secure the identity of personal uses, Microsoft is releasing a new identity theft monitoring capability in Defender for Individuals to personal and family subscribers of Microsoft 365.
According to Microsoft, the identity theft monitoring solution is a partnership with Experian that leverages the credit agency’s identity monitoring technology to detect, track and alert users whenever a user’s information is found on the internet, the dark web, file sharing, chat rooms or other places.
The company says this addresses one of the biggest challenges in preventing identity theft: visibility. Showing the user exactly what information is compromised or publicly available can help them take control of their personal identity security and make more informed decisions.
“Once you know what’s out there, you can take action by resetting passwords for compromised services, enabling multi-factor authentication for services that support it, placing a credit freeze to avoid malicious actors affecting your credit, contacting your bank or card provider to report potential fraud on your account, etc,” the company says in a Tech Community blog.
The Microsoft Defender identity theft monitoring solution can currently track and report up to 64 different types of identity details per breach, including usernames, passwords, credit card numbers and Social Security numbers. Microsoft says identity theft monitoring uses artificial intelligence that will alert users to any other personal information found in the same breach.
“For example, when identity theft monitoring is tracking your email address, it will report all associated data it finds in a breach where your email was found,” Microsoft says. “So, if you had a credit card on file with the breached company or service, it will not just report that it found your email, but also the credit card that was registered on your account there. Even if you never added your credit card number to your monitored identity details!”
The identity theft monitoring tool will also tell users what happened to cause their data to be lost if the cause of the breach is known.
The solution goes several steps further than just giving users that visibility: it also provides contextual recommendations for each individual breach, such as resetting passwords or more complex tasks such as placing a credit freeze or lock. Users will also get recommendations on what to do if their Social Security Number or driver’s license were exposed.
The identity theft monitoring solution in Defender also includes access to a 24/7 support team of restoration specialists that can help guide users through the appropriate steps for any situation, and even take action in some cases.
Identity theft monitoring subscribers will also be insured for the costs associated with restoring their identity up to $1 million and stolen funds caused by the theft up to $100,000, according to Microsoft.
The solution extends to family members in the subscriber’s Microsoft 365 family, and features and benefits can be set up and managed by the family organization for all members of the family.
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