Implode-o-Meter News - After Equifax, Should You Monitor Your Credit or Freeze it?

... credit monitoring is limited and--even paired with an alert--pales in comparison to a credit freeze, the most powerful tool you have against the threat of ID theft. Here's how to decide between freezing your credit or merely monitoring it... What credit-monitoring doesn't do is prevent identity theft. It's an after-the-fact service that can help consumers with remediation efforts, but does nothing to keep the damage from occurring. Only a credit freeze can prevent unauthorized accounts from being opened.
...former LifeLock CEO Todd Davis... famously gave out his Social Security number to show his confidence in his company's services. But a 2010 report by the Phoenix New Times found that 13 unauthorized credit and non-credit accounts were opened in Davis' name, including a $500 loan, an AT&T wireless account and a Gap store card. Davis owed unpaid amounts to Credit One Bank, gift-basket company Swiss Colony, and a handful of collection agencies.

To LifeLock's credit, the company helped its boss to clean up his credit mess. But the lesson from the report is clear: LifeLock didn't prevent all ID theft, even from its boss. In some cases, it didn't even detect it until the account went into collections.

Relevant:

After Equifax, Should You Monitor Your Credit or Freeze it?