You’ve probably received the e-mail or notification before: “Your account has been part of a data leak, change your password immediately”. It’s a message you have to take serious, as a data leak can be very dangerous for your cyber security. These leaks are called data breaches. In this blog, we’ll explain how they work and what you can do against them.
What happens to my data?
You’ve just received this notification and have immediately decided to take action. By changing your password on the account that was involved with the data leak, you’ve taken a good first step, but you’re not there yet. If you’ve used this password on any other website, it’s smart to change it here as well, so they don’t find access into these accounts.
Some people don’t do anything when they receive this notification. It’s probably because they don’t really know what’ll happen to their data if they don’t change anything. This isn’t weird: a data breach isn’t something a lot of people are familiar with, mostly because they mainly happen at the dark web instead of the internet. These steps take place once data gets leaked:
- Hackers find access into a big amount of data, with e-mails, passwords, phone numbers and other personal information
- They create an advertisement on the dark web, selling your details
- Someone buys your data and has access to your personal information and accounts
How to defend myself against a data breach?
Of course, taking action when you get this notification is the first and most important thing you should do. Sadly, there’s not a lot of things you can do to prevent a data breach from happening to you, as they don’t solely attack you but a website or application in general. However, there is one thing that is smart to do if you really want to make sure you’re safe online: investing in threat intelligence. This type of artificial intelligence scans the internet looking for your personal information. Once it’s found, it immediately gets removed and you get updated about it.
Don’t be scared!
Data breaches happen, but it doesn’t mean the end of the world for you. Especially if you make sure you’re safe, there’s nothing to worry about it. So don’t be scared, as you’ll be able to handle it!