Last week’s report that 56 million credit card numbers were stolen from Home Depot, including stores in Maine, should have everyone redoubling their efforts to protect themselves from identity theft.

The report is particularly disturbing since malware installed in Home Depot’s computer system went undetected for five months, company officials acknowledged. That means shoppers who swiped their card at the store from April to September are susceptible to credit card fraud.

Credit card use in the United States is skyrocketing as we shift toward a cashless society. Yes, swiping a card at a store cash register is convenient and many people enjoy the points and cash-back rewards their plastic provides, but the potential downsides in terms of fraud can be catastrophic.

And these security breaches seem to be happening more and more with all forms of personal information being compromised. Last Christmas shopping season, thieves stole 70 million credit and debit card numbers from Target stores, the largest data breach in history. Last month, Russian computer hackers stole 1.2 billion email addresses and passwords, allowing access to any private information contained in those accounts. Also in August, Chinese hackers stole 4.5 million medical records from a hospital group based in Tennessee.

According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit organization that aims to educate Americans about potential risks and also help victims rebuild their financial lives, there have been 4,781 data breaches since 2005 with more than 604 million records stolen. The center says 7 percent of the American public has been victimized and that a new case of ID theft takes place every 3 seconds.

Twenty years ago, identity theft was rare. The worst thing that could happen was a pickpocket lifting your wallet. With the advent of the Internet, those pickpockets have moved their operations online by using “dark web” sites and forums, such as one based in Latvia, where Social Security numbers are sold – “fenced” is the criminal term – some for as little as $1. The Internet has made such fraud easier, and experts say the trend will likely continue and proliferate into the future, especially as people do more business online.

So what’s a consumer to do? Should we dump our plastic and go back to cash? While that would eliminate the likelihood of someone stealing your credit card, it would do little to prevent someone from setting up new accounts in your name and sticking you with the bill. Anyone with any kind of identifying information is susceptible. This was made plain on Sunday night when the “60 Minutes” program on CBS aired a sobering report of how identity thieves file fake income tax returns based on little more than a Social Security number. One thief said he made $40,000 a day filing false returns and enjoyed a 40 percent success rate, meaning the federal government handed over money almost half the time to thieves claiming to be someone else. On Monday, the Government Accountability Office, probably in response to the “60 Minutes” report, released a statement urging the IRS to crack down on the fraud, which they pegged at $5.2 billion in 2013 alone.

The harsh reality is that no one is immune. The Identity Theft Resource Center website says as much: “As consumers, you have little ability to stop or prevent identity theft.” However, the organization goes on to list tangible ways to decrease risk:

• Don’t give out your Social Security number unnecessarily (only for tax reasons, credit or verified employment.)

• Use a cross-cut shredder to dispose of documents with personal information.

• Know your billing cycles and contact creditors when bills fail to show up.

• Password protect your financial accounts. A strong password should be more than eight characters in length, and contain both capital letters and at least one numeric or other non-alphabetical character. Use of non-dictionary words is also recommended.

• Don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the Internet unless you initiated the contact.

• Keep virus and spyware software programs updated.

• Reduce the number of preapproved credit card offers you receive by calling 1-888-5OPT-OUT.

• Order your free annual credit reports online at: www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling 1-877-322-8228. (The website is managed by the three major credit reporting agencies.)

In light of so many breaches, it’s time the country’s leaders – both in government and financial sectors – get snapping on ways to improve our seemingly precarious situation when it comes to financial security. We need better ways to protect our personal information. Europe and Canada use embedded chips in credit cards, rather than the magnetic strip. That’s a start, but more levels of security need to be imposed.

Until our leaders catch up with the criminals, protect and monitor your accounts, and don’t give out your information unless you initiate it.

-–John Balentine, managing editor