1,800 Data Breaches in First Half of 2026: How to Defend Yourself

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According to a HumbleDollar forum post citing consumer advocate Clark Howard, roughly 1,800 data breaches occurred in the first six months of 2026 alone — a pace the author describes as staggering. The post recommends standard defensive steps and adds one specifically important for retirees: freezing your Social Security number through the E-Verify website, which prevents your SSN from being used to open fraudulent accounts or impersonate you with employers. Retirees are called out as especially vulnerable because they are less likely to have an employer actively checking their SSN, making unauthorized use harder to detect.