As you may have seen in the news recently, 150 million users of Under Armour’s MyFitness Pal were the victims of a security breach. Obviously, Under Armour did not “protect their house,“ but they are not alone.  If you look at some of the biggest hacks in recent history (Yahoo – 3 billion users,  eBay – 145 million users, Equifax – 143 million users, Target – 110 million users), it is safe to say that all of us have been affected or will soon be affected.

When one of the institutions that you utilized gets hacked, here’s what you need to do:

• Understand what was affected to determine how aggressive to get in your response.

  Obviously, if your financial or personal information (SSN, etc.) was stolen, you will need to take more significant action. Contact the company to learn about what was affected.

• Immediately become more vigilant.

  In today’s world, we should always tread carefully, but after a known breach, we should become hypersensitive. Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from unsolicited or suspicious emails. Remember “When in doubt, DON’T CLICK IT”.

• Change passwords.

  Change the password for the affected account IMMEDIATELY. Note that you should not use the same username/password for other accounts, but if you do, change the password for those accounts as well. Remember, a password manager like Dashlane can make life much easier. Also, remember to use a “strong” password.

• Contact pertinent financial institutions.

  Reviewing accounts for suspicious activity is always a best practice, but being proactive can lessen headaches down the road.  If a credit card or debit card number was stolen, get ahead of the game by immediately changing your account number. Also, contacting your financial institution can help release you from liability.

• Monitor your credit.

  You can request a credit report to see if there is anything unusual on it. In addition, you should contact a credit bureau and request that a fraud alert be placed on your account.