I’ve Been Hacked, Now What?

For an organization that is trying to run as efficiently as possible, getting hacked is a complete nightmare. The same goes for an individual who is unfortunate enough to fall victim to the scams and hackers looking to exfiltrate login credentials, and ultimately data, from them. Unfortunately, it is the reality for a lot of people out there. Once you are hacked, however, you need to know what actions to take to ensure that your exposure is significantly reduced. 

How Did You Get Hacked?

There are a number of ways you can get hacked. You can fall victim to a hacking attack. You can be infiltrated by a vulnerability in your software, or you can be unfortunate enough to get sabotaged by someone that shares your network. It’s not always evident that you’ve been hacked. In fact, in some cases it can take years to discover that you’ve been the victim of a cybercrime. Many times, however, you will know when you have been infiltrated. If your social media accounts have been hacked, your friends will let you know almost immediately. If your system has been hacked, you will identify how different things are happening compared to normal. 

So You’re Hacked, What Do You Do Now?

When you establish that you’ve been hacked, either through communications with someone or your own discovery, there are some things you need to do immediately. Let’s go through two of them now.

Change Your Passwords

The first thing you will need to do—even before you decide to investigate why or how you have been hacked—is to change your passwords. This will mitigate the ability of any infiltrator to gain access to any of your digital accounts and resources. 

You will want to build strong passwords and enact two-factor or multi-factor authentication on any password-protected accounts. Utilizing a password manager can help promote the use of ultra-strong passwords to keep your accounts secure. 

Get the Help You Need

It may not be easy for the average person to identify how their accounts were hacked. This  means that you need to contact people that can help identify what you are ultimately dealing with. Not only should you contact people that may have some insight on your device’s usage, like friends and family, you should get IT professionals involved that can not only identify what the problem is, but help you put resources in place—whether that’s training, tools, or some other strategy—to keep your accounts secure and your data safe. 

If you suspect you’ve been hacked—or you know you have—contact the IT professionals at BNMC today. Our team of experts can help you identify potential problem areas and help you get the tools and resources needed to solve your technology security problems. Reach out to us at (978) 482-2020 to have a conversation.