Yes you are right. I conflated the two. That said given the the whole system is known to be compromised one should be able to put a fraud alert on their credit

Yes you are right. I conflated the two. That said given the the whole system is known to be compromised one should be able to put a fraud alert on their credit file for longer than 90 days. Or maybe even a permanent fraud alert. It seems like they could be complimentary since a creditor needs to call you to get approval before extending credit in your name. With both of these even if your credit was unlocked the credit issuer would still be required to get your verbal approval.