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Cyberattack and identity theft: recovery guide

Cyberattacks, account takeovers, and identity theft happen when unauthorized individuals gain access to your personal data, passwords, or financial accounts.

Do this now

  1. Change passwords immediately on your primary email account, online banking, and password manager.
  2. Use strong, unique passwords for every account (never reuse the same password).
  3. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA or 2FA) using an authenticator app rather than SMS text messages where possible.
  4. Log out all active sessions across all devices in account security settings.
  5. Report identity theft to official government recovery portals (IdentityTheft.gov in the US).

Step by step recovery from account takeover

Step 1: Secure primary email first Your email address is the key to resetting passwords across all other online services. If your email is hacked, recovery links sent to that inbox can be intercepted.

  • Reset your email password immediately.
  • Check forwarding rules in your email settings to ensure hackers have not created automatic rules to forward your incoming mail.

Step 2: Secure financial and social accounts - Change passwords for online banks, credit cards, investment accounts, and shopping portals. - Contact financial institutions to alert their fraud department.

Step 3: Freeze your credit report - Contact credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) to freeze your credit files.

Recognizing phishing and malware attacks

  • Never click links or download attachments in unexpected emails or text messages claiming your account is suspended or compromised.
  • Always open a fresh browser window and type the official site web address directly.
  • Check web browser addresses (URLs) carefully for slight misspellings (typosquatting).

... note "Identity theft recovery resources" In the United States, official step-by-step recovery plans are provided at IdentityTheft.gov.