I’ve been hacked! What should I do now?

I’ve been hacked!  Ouch!  It’s not fun at all and absolutely a vulnerable situation.  You may have take a rogue phone call or clicked on an errant email link.  Whatever the case, you need to act quickly now to protect yourself.

You can’t just stop, drop, and roll, and wait for good things to happen.  I’m joining a Krav Maga class soon and one thing I’ve learned is that you have to take responsibility for your actions.  You can’t just call the police nor do they care or want to hear from you.  You need to avenge your… let’s face it… your dumb action that put you in this being hacked place to begin with.

So, here’s what you should do now after getting hacked:

Change your passwords.

I know, you won’t remember your new passwords.  Well, guess what?  Your new hacker friend probably already knows your long-lived password.  So, change it!  This will ensure your emails, banking sites, and other personal sites are safe again.

Perform a house check.

Sounds odd, yes, but you should check out your apartment or house to ensure all is secure.  Make sure the hacker did not break in.  If yes or no, now is the time to ensure your doors and windows are locked to prevent future mischief.

Be on high red alert for social media emails.

Hackers typically try to pose as Facebook, Twitter or other accounts to provide a link to ensure your account is no longer compromised.  These could be real, but also be very fake.  Please be sure the email address is from the associated accounts and also only click on them if you cannot get into your accounts.

Alert your crew!

Let your family and friends know you’ve been hacked so they don’t fall into the same trap as you did.  Well, unless you want to play a sick joke on them.

Perform a virus check.

Run an anti-virus scan check on your computer.  Make sure there is nothing malicious brooding under the hood.

Not sure if you’re up to the tech support test here.  Feel free to contact an onsite computer IT tech who can handle this  post-operation hack for you.