Data leaks are a real problem these days; this happens when personal information ends up being accessed, collected or exposed inappropriately na internet.
In practice, many people only notice when the effects begin to appear: scam attempts via SMS, email, phone calls, more “personalized” phishing attempts and even extortion in some worse cases.
Data leaks: a real problem
First of all, it is important to highlight that It is not always possible to locate leaked dataas criminals can leave them in private or restricted environments.
Therefore, experts recommend paying attention to signs of exposure and checking whether any company involving your information.
How do I know if my data has been leaked?
Most of the time, discovering a leak may be less about finding your name somewhere and more about identifying the evidence around you.
In this case, these could be passwords that have stopped working, notifications of attempted access, services warning you that your login information has been exposed, among other possibilities.
We’ve put together some tips that can help you check if your data has been exposed on the internet. Check it out:
- Check if any company has reported any type of leak and confirm the information through official channels;
- Search for login alerts and access history;
- Check your email with leak checking services like Have I Been Pwned, which shows whether your information has been leaked;
- If you use Google resources, check if there is a compromised password warning.
Como usar o Have I Been Pwned
O Have I Been Pwned is a website where you can find out if data from different accounts has already been leaked on the internet.
The process is very simple, just follow the steps below:
- Acesse o site Have I Been Pwned;
- Enter the email address that you suspect has been affected by a data leak;
- Then click “Check”;
- Ready, below “Email Breach History”, the results will be presented in a timeline.
If your account has been compromised, the tool will tell you how many times your data has appeared in leaks associated with that email. The exposed information may include login, password, geolocation, telephone number and other sensitive data.
Some well-known antivirus brands, such as Avast and Norton also offer similar features. On these platforms, simply enter your email to check if there was a leak and understand when and how the data was exposed.
What to do if my data was leaked?
If the leak involves bank or card data, notify the institutions involved, review statements, dispute irregular entries and block your cards if it is really necessary.
The best way to deal with the “post-leak” period is take measures to . In other words, it is worth reducing the amount of personal information available on the internet, reviewing the permissions granted to applications and strengthening privacy settings in the browser and on social networks.
Check out some Quick tips to help you if your data has already been leaked:
- Use different passwords for each account, as reusing passwords makes it easier for criminals to invade other accounts;
- Immediately change passwords for accounts that have been leaked;
- Activate the most important accounts, such as email, social networks and banks;
- Pay attention to warnings, login alerts and review the location of recent accesses;
- Don’t click on strange links and attachments, even when the message seems “urgent”;
- Beware of scams involving , where criminals try to impersonate companies to steal even more personal data or even money.
