17 million hit in major lending company data breach — how to see if you're affected and what to do next

Prosper, a peer-to-peer lending marketplace that allows borrowers to apply for loans that investors can then cover, has been hit by a data breach that occurred last month on September 2nd. The breach, according to the company's FAQ page, happened as as a result of “unauthorized queries made on company databases that store customer and applicant data” which allowed a hacker to access customer and applicant information.

The personal information that was exposed includes names, Social Security numbers, government-issued IDs, employment and credit status, income levels, birth dates, physical addresses, IP addresses, and browser user-agent details. Prosper's FAQ page also states that the unauthorized parties did not gain any access to customer accounts or funds, and that customer facing operations were not interrupted. While the company did not share how many people were affected, BleepingComputer has reported that 17.6 million unique email addresses were affected.

Within the stolen data, there is plenty of sensitive personal information that can be leveraged by hackers to commit phishing and identity theft. As such, affected individuals should take advantage of the help that Prosper is offering, which includes free credit monitoring after determining what data was affected.

How to stay safe after a data breach

If you’re a current, or former, Prosper customer or applicant, you should check with them to see if they can provide you with any additional information about your data. They may be able to tell you what was involved, and inform you what services they can provide you with.

Next, you'll want to make sure to change the passwords to your Prosper account as well as any related financial accounts or any accounts that may have been connected or affiliated with your Prosper account. Make sure to choose strong, unique passwords for each of your accounts, and if you don't already use one, consider putting a password manager in place to handle them all for you.

Also, enable two-factor authentication or multi-factor authentication on the accounts that permit it, as this extra layer of security can often be the last obstacle before a hacker takes over your account. As always, take the necessary steps to prevent phishing attacks by being on high alerts for any unexpected emails or texts that want you to click on links or attachments or pressure you into downloading something you weren't expecting.

Lastly, if you haven't already, set up identity theft monitoring and services with one of the best identity theft protection services. Having one in place in advance can help protect you by providing you with an alert if anything suspicious happens with your financial accounts and most importantly, your sensitive personal info like your SSN.

More from Tom's Guide

• Taxpayers targeted in new Inflation Refund text scam — what you need to know and how to stay safe
• I'm a security editor and here's how I stopped a phishing attempt 1,900 miles away from home
• Fake WhatsApp and TikTok apps are trying to fool Android users into downloading spyware — don't fall for this