On September 7, 2017, one of the "big three" credit reporting agencies in the country dropped a bombshell. Equifax had been hacked, and almost 150 million Americans may have had their credit histories exposed. It was one of the largest cyber-breaches in history, and while it's difficult to get a handle on exact numbers, suffice to say that it's quite likely your information was compromised.

And it isn't just U.S. citizens who are at risk. The hackers also grabbed confidential data on residents of Canada and the United Kingdom. The other two major credit reporting agencies—Experian and TransUnion—weren't affected.

It took some time for Equifax to get the word out. According to media sources, unauthorized access to data occurred during a three-month stretch between May and July of 2017. The breach was reportedly discovered on July 29, 2017.