Technologies

Best Identity Theft Protection and Monitoring Services for 2023

Got a hunch that someone’s ruining your credit? These identity theft protection services can help you find out — and fight back.

Identity theft is no joke: It’s a serious threat with the potential to destroy your entire life if you aren’t careful. And according to the Identity Theft Research Center, these cybercrimes are on the rise, with data compromises increasing by 68% in 2021 alone. This is why you need to protect yourself with one of the best identity theft protection services available.

Falling victim to one of these crooks could result in your credit being directly attacked. They might even commit other crimes and cause additional problems with your stolen identity. Your Social Security number, bank account and more are at risk, which is why you need to be proactive in protecting yourself.

The best way to safeguard your personal information is to make use of the best identity theft protection services to suit your needs. These services typically offer ID protection, credit monitoring and more to keep your sensitive data away from prying eyes. Our top picks for the best identity theft protection and monitoring services can help safeguard your identity and proactively monitor suspicious activity and assist with recovery if you become a victim of a data breach.

ID theft protection is only going to become more essential. In 2019 alone, there were more than 13 million US identity fraud cases, with victims losing nearly $17 billion, along with untold damage to credit reports. The 2017 Equifax breach was the icing on a nasty cake — one that got even worse in the following years. One of the biggest 2020 data breaches was the Marriott hack, which affected over 5 million customers. That followed an earlier breach of Marriott’s Starwood reservation system, in which the personal information of more than 380 million guests was compromised, including more than 5 million passport numbers
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In this directory, we’ll look at some of the best options for helping you manage and protect your identity at various price levels. We’ll also explain the difference between an identity theft protection company and a credit monitoring service. Before we get started, keep in mind that you don’t have to spend $10 to $30 a month for the best identity theft protection service. The US government offers IdentityTheft.gov, an identity restoration service that can help a victim report and recover from identity theft.

Read more: How to Prevent Identity Theft

We’ll jump straight to the top choices for the best identity theft protection service options for ID monitoring, credit monitoring and more. Keep reading to review additional important information and facts about ID theft and ID protection. This list is updated frequently.

How much? Pricing compared
Not recommended: Equifax and TrustedID
Identity theft: What you need to know

What about Equifax and TrustedID?

Ah, Equifax. If you already have an ID monitoring service, it may well be because of this company, which is the poster child for bad security. One of the big three credit reporting agencies, Equifax had no less than five major data breaches in 2017, affecting nearly every American who has a credit history. In the months that followed, we learned that things may have somehow even been worse than originally known.

And the company’s ham-fisted response to each data breach made matters worse: At one point, the company was directing users to a fake help site. And the site it set up to provide free credit account monitoring after the data breach was originally also vulnerable to hackers.

Heads rolled, executives left, and the company’s reputation is in tatters. And yet, thanks to a tepid response from the federal government, it’s unclear if anything has really changed. Equifax remains one of three major companies — Experian and TransUnion being the other two — that pass judgment on whether we’re all credit-worthy.

For better or worse, many people took advantage of Equifax’s offer of a free year’s membership to TrustedID, its commercial identity theft service. But that offer — originally available to anyone with a Social Security number — has ended. (It required that you register by Jan. 31, 2018.)

The service provides a copy of your Equifax credit report, a lock on your Equifax data by third parties (with some exceptions), credit monitoring from all three credit bureaus, monitoring of your SSN on what Equifax calls «suspicious» websites and a very limited $1 million identity theft insurance policy.

We understand if you took advantage of the offer while it was free. That said, we just can’t recommend doing business with a company that has demonstrated such contempt for security protocols — let alone customers. Any of the alternative protection services listed above would be a better option.

Pricing compared

The base prices of each service are presented below, from lowest to highest. Note that the more expensive ones almost always offer additional perks, such as more frequent credit reports from credit bureaus.

*Offers 60-day money back guarantee.

Identity theft: What you need to know

These are some key things to keep in mind about the best identity theft protection and ID monitoring services.

Early detection is key. If you’re signing up for one of these protection services, it’s less about preventing the initial breach and saving you from being a victim of identity theft — that’s somewhat out of your hands, unfortunately. Instead, the best identity theft protection is about getting a heads-up as soon as possible on suspicious activity to prevent you from needing to do a credit freeze or more to stop an identity thief. Whether your credit card has charges on it you never incurred, or you suddenly discover that loan collectors are trying to collect amounts you never borrowed, thanks to thieves halfway across the country — or thieves halfway around the world — who opened a credit card or applied for a loan in your name, seeing the suspicious activity early on is the name of the game. The scary fact is that these breaches can cost you a lot of money and identity theft monitoring can alert you to a problem before it becomes too big to handle.

Knowing how your personal information is being used is a big step to keeping yourself safe. There are identity theft protection companies that can help you monitor your personal information, get notified if your accounts and personal information are being misused by thieves and if you should get a credit freeze, and even get you reimbursement after the fact.

None of these protection services will monitor your actual banking activity. I have long recommended a way to protect yourself from becoming a victim of most banking fraud, which is to examine all your accounts once a week. It’s a bit of a pain, but just in my family, we’ve found numerous fraudulent activities and charges over the years. By doing this practice regularly, we’ve saved thousands of dollars. Consumer Reports recommends you do all your own monitoring, too.

That said, if you’re not the type of person who is willing or able to take the time to do the constant due diligence necessary to protect your identity, some of these protection services can help.

Read the fine print. Finally, because each of these protection services offers vastly different terms and conditions, we’ve included an easy link to each company’s terms of service. Be sure to take the time to read all of their fine print before you sign up for another monthly or yearly fee.

More security and internet recommendations

Technologies

AT&T’s $177 Million Settlement Will Pay Victims of Two Huge Data Breaches. Learn Who Qualifies

If your data was leaked in two massive AT&T data breaches, you could be eligible for a payout.

Of the 1,350,835,988 notices sent to subjects of data breaches in 2024, almost a tenth of those came from a hack of AT&T servers in April, according to to the Identity Theft Resource Center’s 2024 Annual Data Breach Report. The telecom giant now plans to settle a lawsuit for that breach and another in 2019 for a whopping $177 million.

On Friday, June 20, US District Judge Ada Brown granted preliminary approval to the terms of a proposed settlement from AT&T that would resolve two lawsuits related to the data breaches. The current settlement would see AT&T pay $177 million to customers adversely affected by at least one of the two data breaches.

The settlement will prioritize larger payments to customers who suffered damages that are «fairly traceable» to the data leaks. It will also provide bigger payments to those impacted by the larger of the two leaks, which began in 2019. While the company is working toward a settlement, it has continued to deny that it was «responsible for these criminal acts.»

For all the details we have about the settlement right now, keep reading, and for more info about other recent settlements, find out how to claim Apple’s Siri privacy settlement and see if you’re eligible for 23andMe’s privacy breach settlement.

What happened with these AT&T data breaches?

AT&T confirmed the two data breaches last year, announcing an investigation into the first in March before confirming it in May and confirming the second in July.

The first of the confirmed breaches began in 2019. The company revealed that about 7.6 million current and 65.4 million former account holders had their data exposed to hackers, including names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth. The company first began investigating the situation last year after it reported that customer data had appeared on the dark web.

The second breach began in April of 2024, when a hacker broke into AT&T cloud storage provider Snowflake and accessed 2022 call and text records for almost all of the company’s US customers, about 109 million in all. The company stressed that no names were attached to the stolen data. Two individuals were arrested in connection with the breach.

Both of these incidents sparked a wave of class action lawsuits alleging corporate neglect on the part of AT&T in failing to sufficiently protect its customers.

How will I know if I’m eligible for the AT&T data breach settlement?

As of now, we know that the settlement will pay out to any current or former AT&T customer whose data was accessed in one of these data breaches, with higher payments reserved for those who can provide documented proof that they suffered damages directly resulting from their data being stolen.

If you’re eligible, you should receive a notice about it, either by email or a physical letter in the mail, sometime in the coming months. The company expects that the claims process will begin on Aug. 4, 2025.

How much will the AT&T data breach payments be?

You’ll have to «reasonably» prove damages caused by these data breaches to be eligible for the highest and most prioritized payouts. For the 2019 breach, those claimants can receive up to $5,000. For the Snowflake breach, the max payout will be $2,500. It’s not clear at this time how the company might be handling customers who’ve been affected by both breaches.

AT&T will focus on making those payments first, and whatever’s left of the $177 million settlement total will be disbursed to anyone whose data was accessed, even without proof of damages. Because these payouts depend on how many people get the higher amounts first, we can’t say definitively how much they will be.

When could I get paid from the AT&T data breach settlement?

AT&T expects that payments will start to go out sometime in early 2026. Exact dates aren’t available right now. The recent court order approving the settlement lists a notification schedule of Aug. 4 to Oct. 17, 2025.

The deadline for submitting a claim is currently set at Nov. 18, 2025. The final approval of the settlement needs to be given at a Dec. 3, 2025, court hearing in order for payments to begin.

Stay tuned to this piece in the coming months to get all the new details as they emerge.

For more money help, check out CNET’s daily tariff price impact tracker.

Technologies

RFK Jr. Announces All Americans Need Health Tracking Devices: Here Are the Pros and Cons

The US Health Secretary plans a huge campaign to encourage health wearables: CNET knows exactly the kind of devices he’s talking about, and why accuracy may be a problem.

Many Americans already track health statistics like heart rate and sleep cycles on app-connected accessories. Now the federal government wants to jump in. On June 24, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced «one of the largest HHS campaigns in history» to encourage the use of wearables to track health conditions, a trend CNET has recently covered.

Kennedy is referring to the many different bands, watches and even clothes that use technology to track human vital signs. CNET’s reviewers have spent years testing devices like these, seeing how rings monitor health signs, straps track your heart health and the right devices lead to better sleep.

The latest version of the Apple Watch, for example, has sensors designed to detect heart rate, heart rhythm issues, falls, sleep health, sleep apnea, temperature, breathing rate and more. The newest Oura Ring can track sleep patterns, menstrual cycles, temperature, heart rate and other health details.

«We think that wearables are a key to the MAHA agenda, Making America Healthy Again ,» Kennedy told the Subcommittee on Health during its budget meeting. «My vision is that every American is wearing a wearable within four years … they can see what food is doing to their glucose levels, their heart rates and a number of other metrics as they eat it.»

Kennedy also tweeted that «wearables put the power of health back in the hands of the American people.»

«Wearables,» however, is a broad term encompassing everything from fitness devices that count steps to sleep trackers you wear at night. And consumer devices can’t easily replace monitoring solutions offered by medical professionals.

For example, CNET has covered research indicating that even the best-in-class Apple Watch struggles with accuracy from metrics like steps to heart rate. Another study from California State Polytechnic University has shown that fitness-related Fitbit trackers show high inaccuracies as well. In fact, that research was used in a related Fitbit lawsuit.

Speaking of glucose monitors, Kennedy isn’t the only White House official with an interest in such health sensors. The administration’s nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Casey Means, co-founded glucose-monitoring company Levels and sells a monitoring app as well as other wellness products.

Finally, CNET wellness experts remind everyone that wearables aren’t always a good fit. Those suffering from eating disorders or body image issues should always talk to an expert before using wearables, as they can exacerbate certain issues or lead to a unhelpful outlook.

The US Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

What’s Included in Xbox Game Pass? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

Check out the pros and cons of each Game Pass tier, and how much each costs.

Editors’ Note: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offers a slew of benefits, including a massive game library, diverse device support and both PC and console games. Nifty features like the ability to play on smart TVs, phones, tablets and PCs — not just consoles — make this a convenient gaming subscription service for a wide range of people. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate costs less than the price of a new game each month, yet gives access to hundreds of titles, which is why it earned a CNET Editors’ Choice Award. The original article follows.

New AAA video games used to cost $50 apiece, but it’s not unusual to see a similar game cost $70 now. That price might make you pause before you buy the game, but with an Xbox Game Pass subscription, you could play a brand-new game, and others, for a fraction of the price.

Microsoft launched Game Pass in 2017, and since then, the gaming service has grown to be one of the best values for gamers. All Game Pass plans offer member discounts for non-Game Pass titles and other perks, but figuring out which plan is right for you can be difficult.

That choice can be especially tough after Microsoft removed its Game Pass Console plan and replaced it with Game Pass Standard. The company also increased the price of Game Pass Ultimate from $17 to $20 a month.

I’ve covered the service in the past, including future releases and whether Game Pass Ultimate will save you money compared with buying single games. And with all the new titles Microsoft announced would be joining the service as Day 1 releases, like the upcoming Doom: The Dark Ages, you might be wondering what the difference is between different Game Pass plans.

Here’s what you need to know about the Game Pass plans so you can decide which one is right for your needs.

Xbox Game Pass tiers

	Game Pass Core	Game Pass PC	Game Pass Standard	Game Pass Ultimate
Day 1 releases	No	Yes	No	Yes
PC games	No	Yes	No	Yes
Online multiplayer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
EA Play	No	Yes	No	Yes
Cloud Gaming	No	Yes (select games via GeForce Now Ultimate)	No	Yes (via Xbox Cloud Gaming and select games via GeForce Now Ultimate)
Monthly price	$10	$12	$15	$20