It depends on what kind of information is compromised. If you are a victim of a data breach, you should take the following steps to prevent attackers from exploiting the stolen information to make more attacks.
If Financial Information is compromised
If your financial information is compromised, attackers can no doubt exploit that to cause more financial loss. You should immediately take the following steps:
1. If credit card number is compromised, please call up the bank and cancel the card.
2. If bank account number is compromised, please call the bank and request to close the account and open a new one.
3. Monitor all your financial accounts for suspicious transactions.
4. You can also sign up for credit monitoring service and monitor your credit report. This is also a good step to prevent financial losses in case of identity theft.
If your identity information is compromised
This is even more serious, as the attackers can exploit your identity information in many ways. If sensitive information like SSN is compromised, attackers can use that to open credit in your name, illegally rent apartment, get medical treatment in your name, file fake tax returns etc. You should take the following steps to prevent it:
1. Sign up for a credit monitoring service and monitor your credit report.
2. Sign up for a good identity theft protection service. It can be costly, but it saves you from closely monitoring everything yourself.
3. Enable fraud alert for your credit card file, so that if attackers use your identity information to get a new credit card in your name, the lender will see the alert and contact you for verification.
If login credentials are compromised
If your login credentials for any account is compromised, you should take the following steps:
1. Change password for the account. Please note that the length of a password should be at least 12 and it should contain a good combination of small letters, capital letters, numbers and special characters. And, one should never reuse passwords to other accounts.
2. You should login to the account and check carefully whether there is any change in the account settings.
3. Enable 2 FA for the account if possible. This can improve the security of the account up to a great extent. If your account has 2 FA enabled, then an attacker wonโt be able to get access of your account, even if the attacker has your email address and password.
4. If you have any security question associated with the account, please change that. I would also suggest, if you use the same security question to other accounts, please change there too.
5. Repeat the process for all other accounts where you think you have used the same login credentials. This is important, as attackers often use the stolen credentials to hack more accounts where the victim has reused the credentials.
6. Report the hack. You can report it to the service provider or the legal authorities if needed.
7. Contact credit agencies and monitor your credit report. Attackers often exploit the information present in a hacked account to perpetrate phishing scam or other attacks and cause financial losses. So, it is always better to be on safer side.
In fact, in all the above cases, it is always better to be stay alerted for phishing attacks. Hope this helps.
Related thread: https://www.thesecuritybuddy.com/discussion-room/topic/what-should-i-do-if-my-email-account-is-hacked/
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