On Boxing Day here in the UK (26th December for anyone who doesn’t celebrate it) the NCSC (that’s the National Cyber Security Centre) blogged about staying smart with your Christmas gadgets. This included 5 tips which are always true for gadgets and our tech-filled lives, so I thought I’d go through them.
What to do if something goes wrong
If you think someone may have access to one of your accounts, log in and change the password as soon as possible. Make sure it’s a strong password.
If you haven’t already and it’s available, turn on two-factor authentication. This will stop them gaining access again.
Many online services (for example, Google) have the option in the security settings to log out all other sessions. This means that if they are currently logged into your account, they will be immediately logged out. And because you’ve changed the password, they won’t be able to get back in.
If they have changed your password and also managed to change the email address, therefore preventing you from doing a password reset and locking you out completely, you’ll need to get in touch with the company in an attempt to regain control. Unfortunately this can be a lengthy drawn-out process, so it’s better to be proactive about security, rather than reactive to a security incident.