How to Discover What has Been Taken
The first you might know about a data breach may be some odd activity on your bank account or your credit report. In most cases, your bank will track insignificant amounts which are being taken in quick succession. It normally signals fraudulent behavior and your bank might freeze your accounts until you contact them. The other way that you might find out is a company which holds your details contacts you to say that they have had a data breach. In this case, they will usually keep you up to date as to whether your data was breached or not.
Contact Your Bank
Regardless of whether your bank or another company contacted you, it is vital that you speak to the bank first. Most banks have a dedicated fraud unit that you will need to speak to about the data theft. If the bank found the fraud, they will have already started the process of disabling your bank account. However, if another company called you, then you need to tell the bank so that they can stop your cards and reissue them to you. The bank will also go through the last few transactions with you and see if you recognize them. If you don’t recognize them, the bank will look to recover the money for you.
Change Your Passwords
The next task is to start changing your passwords in case the hackers have managed to access any of your accounts. The most important password to change is the one for the company where the data was stolen. The company will probably bring in a professional data recovery company such as Secure Data Recovery. However, it is still important that you change the password to your account with them. To make sure no other data will be taken, you should change your passwords to other accounts you use, especially if you use the same password for all of them.
Monitor Your Account Activity
For the next couple of weeks or so, you need to continue to monitor your activity on your bank account and any other accounts that they may have access. That way, you won’t be surprised by any sudden unusual behavior. If you do notice anything, it is important to contact your bank as soon as possible.
Although having your identity or other data stolen can be scary, there are many things you can do to stop it becoming any worse. As a precaution, you should always monitor your accounts to make sure nothing untoward is happening.