In this day and age, we are more involved in our digital lives and have lost touch with reality. At the touch of a fingertip, we can contact friends that are miles and miles away. We can work from home and just as productively, we can Skype and speak to people online, etc. We can even make monetary transactions without having to move a limb. However, what do you do when someone compromises your digital universe?
When someone hacks your account, he/she uses your digital keys which are your login credentials to breach your data and gain access to it. Most hackers use it for harassment, cyberstalking, identity theft, and worse of all, ransomware. Ransomware is when your data is hacked into, and the hacker freezes your assets, your money, and other personal information until a ransom is paid to the hacker. This leads to seeking assistance from cybersecurity services so they can use processes such as ransomware removal and ransomware recovery to remove this malware.
How To Know If Your Account Has Been Hacked?
The main question that arises is how do you know that your account has been hacked? The first sign will be noticing any activity in your accounts that you have not performed. For example, messages went from your account to another account which you did not send or different emails sent which you did not send. Especially when it comes to financial activity, hackers find loopholes to embezzle money from your account. The key thing is to be aware and prevent such an occurrence from happening by using secure passwords, keeping an eye on your finances and credit card reports, and limiting physical access to your computer.
What To Do When You Have Been Hacked?
There are a few steps to follow when you have been hacked.
- Change your password immediately. This immediately cuts the hackers access to your data.
- End all current sessions. When you decide to end all current sessions, it logs you out of all devices you may be logged into. This removes access from your data and account.
- Assess the situation, and recall your steps and try to figure out who could have done this and where did you previously use your social media accounts.
- Create a fraud alert for your credit card and bank account. When such an occurrence takes place, make sure to create a fraud alert by contacting cybersecurity services and your bank so they can closely monitor your activities.
- Set up two-factor authentication for all your accounts. By doing so, there is no way the hacker can get into any of your accounts as they will require the phone to gain access to your account.
- When you’re sure that the hacker has no access anymore, monitor your account very carefully for a couple of days and weeks to keep track of all accounts.
