In today’s world, so much of our life takes place online. Because of this, most people have accounts and profiles on various websites and apps. While some of these are just for fun, many of these are used to house sensitive personal or professional data. To ensure that this data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, it’s vital that you know how to protect your information as well as what to do if your information gets breached.
To help you with this part of this process, here are three things to do if your online security has been breached.
Figure Out What Was Taken
According to Ian Paul, a contributor to PCWorld.com, the very first thing you should do if you think your data has been breached is to learn what information was vulnerable and potentially stolen. if it was personal accounts that have been hacked, you’ll want to check your credit report to see if there are any changes you don’t recognize. But if it was your professional account that has been hacked, don’t want to speak with your IT and online security teams figure out what your next steps should be to protect yourself and your customers or clients.
Change Your Passwords
After you’ve discovered which accounts or information has been left vulnerable during this breach, the next thing you want to do is immediately change any and all applicable passwords so that any further information won’t be stolen.
According to Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, a contributor to Forbes.com, every account that you have should have a unique password. However, if this is too much for you to handle, you should at least have different passwords for your personal and professional accounts. Just make sure that every password you use is strong and contains numbers, upper and lower case letters, and symbols. This will give you the best chance of having a password that is not easily guessed by hackers.
Consider Using Another Protective Service
Most businesses take extreme measures to protect their sensitive information and data. If it’s your personal data that has been breached, there’s not too much you can change going forward other than not using that website or working with that company anymore—in addition to signing up for a credit monitoring service, as suggested by Brian Edmondson, a contributor to The Balance. But if your breach has come from a professional standpoint, you may want to consider finding another IT security company to work with who can better protect your data in the future.
If your online security has been breached, either personally or professionally, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you learn what to do following a security breach.
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