Recently there’s been a flood of data breaches such as Sears, Saks, and Under Armour as well as social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Hacks are alarming and frustrating, so how can you get back to your normal online activity after a breach? Keep reading for steps to help you stay safe after your data is exposed.
First, identify which platforms were affected. This will let you evaluate the extent of the damage and assess what personal information was exposed.
- Was this a breach on social media? Via your email? An online account?
- Did you give someone control of your computer? Do they have your phone number?
Next, double check with your credit card company that nothing strange is going on.
- Ensure everything in your accounts looks correct– you can do this by contacting your bank directly.
- If you’re concerned, you can get encrypted alerts sent to your phone every time you complete a credit card transaction.
And update all your passwords with a new, unique and strong password.
- The most secure passwords are random letters and numbers meshed together, including caps lock, symbols, or numbers– Dashlane Password Manager helps to generate and remember your secure passwords. The New York Times says it is life-changingly great. And free. Try it for free today.
Finally, make sure your computer is clean by running a FixMeStick scan.
- Even if you have antivirus on your system, threats can hide and continue to steal your information.
- FixMeStick runs externally so the viruses can’t hide so you can have peace-of-mind knowing your computer is private.
Make sure to beware of phishing.
- Scammers often reach out after a breach pretending to be the company whose data was exploited.
- These “companies” typically reach out over email– so beware of suspicious links or attachments in emails.
- Don’t respond to threatening emails or popups, force quit or delete them, then clear your trash and run a FixMeStick scan to be safe.
And of course subscribe to our newsletter so you get the latest threat alerts right to your inbox so you’re always safe.