Current eMessage > Technical Information > December 2017

Technical Information

I’ve been hacked! Now what?

by MACC’s Technical Support Team

These days, you’re constantly hearing about cybersecurity in the news with announcements of personal information being stolen along with ideas on how to prevent being compromised. It is not too often you see what to do if you are hacked. This is a short guide of some things you can do to help recover your accounts.

First and foremost reset your passwords! Your accounts and account details are like gold to a hacker.

You need to secure the account you know was hacked, but you need to check all the others it touches as well. It may seem like a hassle, but reset your passwords on those services, and treat them as if they have been compromised. If you can’t log into your email account try resetting the password. If that fails, or the email associated with your account no longer works, look for an account recovery option. You can also contact the company for help. When you change your passwords make sure to log out of the account as this will kick anyone using your old password out.

After all of your passwords have been changed, if your accounts have any shipping information or payment information, make sure the shipping information is still your address and make sure no new payment methods have been added.

The hacker may try to use your information to access your other accounts like social networking, email, banking, shopping etc. Hacked social networking and email accounts are used to spread spam, malware and ads on your behalf. Let all your contacts know about the hack. If your email was hacked, check your inbox, trash and sent items for any new account notifications using your email address. If new accounts have been created, you can try logging into those accounts by using the reset password feature and then delete the account.

If you see no obvious hacks in your email account its possible your machine was the source of the attack. Scan your device for any spyware or malware that could be monitoring your account details or keystrokes.

Last, but not least, if anything of substance has been affected, file a police report. They might be able to provide assistance, but it will also help you lock down your credit with the credit reporting agencies and give you more power when working with online banking and credit card agencies.

We take data security very seriously at MACC and are committed to offering our best to help you strengthen your defenses. If you have any questions, or if there is anything we can do for you, please don’t hesitate to contact your MACC Tech Support Team and we will be happy to help! We can be reached at 402-533-5300 or via email at macctechs@maccnet.com.