What to do if your data was stolen in Lurie Children's Hospital data breach

Lurie Children's Hospital sent letters to nearly 800,000 patients last week telling them that their data was stolen during a cyberattack last winter.

Why it matters: Breached data includes birth dates, addresses and Social Security numbers.

Between the lines: Lurie says stolen data varies by individual. Some people had health data stolen; others had sensitive financial information exposed, too.

• In a statement, officials attributed the lag between the breach and the notifications to "the complexity of the attack as well as our infrastructure."

What to do: Lurie patients or their guardians can get more specific information about their compromised data by calling 888-401-0575. Most patients, those who are no longer minors, must make the call themselves.

• Affected patients may be advised to take a range of actions from requesting credit reports and checking credit card statements to placing freezes and fraud alerts on accounts.

How it works: Consumers should contact all three credit bureaus to request freezes and alerts.

• You can also walk through the process at the Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft site .

Threat level: Cybercriminals have targeted at least two other hospital systems in metro Chicago this year, part of a trend that can cripple health systems .

What's next: Lurie is offering all affected patients two years of free identity restoration assistance through Experian Identity Works.

• Links and activation codes are provided in the letters sent this month and must be activated by Oct. 5.