If the news about data breaches at multiple organisations in the past few weeks has you worried about your cybersecurity, you’re not alone.
Many of us are wondering what we need to do to protect ourselves from hackers and scammers — which can be overwhelming thought given how much of our lives are online.
Paul Haskell-Dowland, a professor of cybersecurity practice at Edith Cowan University, runs us through a few simple things you can do.
How do I check if I’m a victim of a hack?
Check if your number or email’s been caught up in breaches
Head to the HaveIBeenPwned website and check to see if your mobile number and email address have appeared in recorded data breaches.
It’ll instantly tell you if your details have been exposed in known unintentional breaches or pastes — where information has been posted to a public website.
But you have to subscribe if you want to see if you’re caught up in sensitive breaches.
The free website is run by Australian cyber security professional Troy Hunt and is run using a database of known leaked data.
However, Mr Hunt points out that it’s “but a small subset of all the records that have been breached over the years”, so don’t assume you’re in the clear if nothing comes up for you.
“Just because your email address wasn’t found here doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been compromised in another breach,” the website says.
Check your free credit reports
Credit reports…
