Getting hacked is a scary possibility, and judging by the steady increase in annual incidents, an increasingly likely one. Even more unsettling is that you can use the best cybersecurity practices to protect your information and still have it leaked if a shop or service you’re connected to suffers a data breach incident.
Thankfully, with the right tools and techniques, being hacked doesn’t necessarily mean your information is instantly at risk. Here’s what you can do to minimize and mitigate most of the damage if you suspect you’ve become a cyberattack victim.
Change Account Passwords
Whether you’ve fallen for a phishing email or are just one of millions of users affected by the latest high-profile data breach, the account credentials associated with the incident are no longer secure.
Many of us create pretty weak passwords or, even worse, reuse the same ones for convenience, which makes the situation worse. A single compromised account can quickly become a major security issue, as hackers may try to reuse your login credentials to access your email, social media, and other online service accounts.
In situations like this, the best thing you can do to save the hacked account is to change its password immediately. In fact, it’s wise to do this for all your key accounts, creating strong, unique passwords and enabling two-factor authentication for added security.
This can be time-consuming and challenging to manage, so tools like password managers can simplify the process, ensuring every account has a unique, secure password that can be filled in automatically. These tools often include the option to set up two-factor authentication when a service doesn’t offer it natively, which is always beneficial for online security.
Disable and Remove Unauthorized Software and Apps
Malware can infect your devices in multiple ways, compromising your sensitive information. You can prevent this by avoiding unsafe websites and refraining from downloading third-party apps that haven’t passed the rigorous security checks of your device’s official store.
Be especially cautious with the links you click and files you download online because even once-trusted browser extensions can become infected with malware that steals your credentials.
If these are your prime suspects, check your devices for any unauthorized apps or software and disable or remove such items altogether. You should also review the permissions for apps you use regularly. If these permissions exceed the app’s scope—like a music player wanting access to your camera or contacts—treat them with caution or, better yet, remove them.
Monitor Suspicious Activity
Close to 20% of victims do nothing, even when they know they are hacked. Not taking immediate action to protect our online accounts allows cybercrooks to take their time executing attacks.
You can prevent this by enabling notifications for login attempts from new locations, password change requests, and other suspicious activity. Periodically check key accounts for associated devices and remove any unknown ones.
Assuming the hack involved unauthorized access to your financial information, carefully monitor transaction reports for unknown activity. Hackers will test the waters with smaller purchases before moving on to more significant transfers, so treat even innocent-looking yet irregular transactions with suspicion.
If you discover such tampering, contact your bank and have them implement anti-fraud measures. You may need to have your credit frozen until you resolve the issue to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft or ending up responsible for loans and credits you never requested.
Change Your Online Habits
Dealing with a hack is never pleasant, but it gives a good reality check and an opportunity to minimize the chances of future incidents by adopting more security-conscious habits.
You can give cybercriminals much less to work with by switching your social media accounts to private and sharing as little personal information as possible. This way, they won’t have enough clues to guess your security question answers or impersonate you convincingly.
Another safeguard is keeping your online activities private. The change is easy to make since all you have to do is turn on a trustworthy VPN whenever you go online. It’s a very simple step, but it can do wonders for your safe browsing.
VPNs create encrypted tunnels between your device and a VPN server, preventing your communications and file transfers from being exposed or intercepted. VPNs also mask your IP address, making it much harder for hackers to track your activities or use this information to compromise other accounts. Now, each person has different preferences when it comes to VPNs, so check out Reddit for the ultimate VPN comparisons to find the one that suits your needs best.
Conclusion
Having the right safeguards ready in case of a hack can reduce the impact on your online security, identity, finances, and peace of mind. Remember these tips when creating them, and enjoy online security.