If information is stolen on the network, what should I do at the first time?

In the eyes of cyber thieves, your personally identifiable information is like gold. If your personal information is stolen, the consequences will be terrible.

In the eyes of cyber thieves, your personally identifiable information is like gold. Your name, e-mail, telephone number, social security code (equivalent to domestic ID number), password and other information can give criminals an opportunity to rob your financial account and even find out your medical record, health status and work prospects.

Experts suggest that if you haven't started to actively protect your personal information, it's time to take action. If you still ignore it now, there is a great possibility that your personal information will be stolen, which will lead to money loss, reputation damage and even death (for example, these thieves began to tamper with your personal medical record). Adam Levin, the founder of CyberScout, a personal information data defense service provider, and the author of How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Liars and Personal Information Thieves, said:

The consequences of personal information being stolen will be terrible.

Experts believe that people must actively protect their personal information from potential hackers. The following content will talk about how to protect your personal information from being stolen by network criminals, and how to reduce the loss as much as possible after the information is leaked.

What is information theft? When someone steals your personal information, such as your social security code or name, it is used to forge your identity. Criminals may use your name to apply for a credit card, use your tax fund or use your personal information to get medical care.

Experts say that this has a direct impact on your personal finances. Eva Velasquez, founder and CEO of Personal Information Crime Resource Center, said: "Your personal information is as important as your cash." Therefore, it is very important for consumers to protect their personal information and use it only when necessary.

How to judge whether your personal information has been stolen? After someone fraudulently uses your personal information, you may not find it until there is a strange debit on your credit card, an unexpected arrears call or a notice that your personal credit score is lowered. So it is very important to check your account regularly, including credit card records, bank statements, downloading your free credit records, and setting up a change notice for your financial account.

Learn how to prevent personal information from being stolen. It is too difficult to completely prevent personal information from being stolen. But vigilant consumers can take measures to minimize the risk of personal information being stolen, and also reduce the loss after being stolen.

LowCars.com CEO Bill Hadkov said:

Of course, consumers should take all measures to protect themselves, although this cannot completely eliminate the possibility of information being stolen.

Here are some measures to reduce the possibility of personal information being stolen:

Use a strong password. And "123456" or "mima" is not a strong password at all. Create several difficult passwords, such as combinations of some phrases. At the same time, don't forget to modify your password regularly, establish multiple verification methods, and set a solid obstacle for criminals.

Reasonable selection of content to be shared on the Internet. Criminals may use the information you post on social networks such as Facebook and Instagram to guess passwords, confirm your personal information or answer your security questions. If you can, be careful not to share personal information such as your birthday, address and telephone number online. Another good strategy is to lie when setting security questions. For example, you can tell a program that your mother's name is A, but it's actually B. If you can keep a good record of your lies, it's a good way to prevent others from speculating about your safety.

Buy a shredder. Another common criminal means to obtain personal information is through discarded mail or other paper materials. Buy a shredder and shred the mail and financial documents before you throw them away. If you don't have a shredder, some local shops, such as Staples, can charge a certain fee to shred paper documents for you.

Trust your instincts. If a phone call, link or email looks suspicious, trust your intuition. Hang up the phone, don't click on the link or delete the email. If you are not sure whether the call is legal, you can call the phone behind the credit card or the phone on the company website to verify it.

Check or freeze your credit history. Consumers can freeze their accounts in any credit bureau to ensure that no program can obtain their credit records. The freeze will last until the day when consumers decide to "unfreeze".

Set an alarm clock. Liars usually make some small transactions with your credit card to make sure that the card is really available, and then take large-scale actions, so it is very necessary to pay attention to even the smallest deduction in the account. Many banks and credit cards allow users to set up real-time SMS notifications, emails or mobile application reminders, which is a very useful measure for savvy customers. Alan Brill, a senior manager of Cyber Security and Investigations, a security company, said that you can ask the bank to notify you when any transaction with a value greater than $0 occurs, so that once the credit card is used, you can be notified immediately.