Compromised?

How can you recover from a hacking event?

So, you notice suspicious activity on one or more of your online accounts. What do you do now?

Change your password

• If you are still able to get into the settings of your account you should immediately change your password. 

Contact the company or organization hosting the account

• Let someone at the company know what is going on so that they can suspend your account and prevent further violations.
• For example, if you think your OU email account has been compromised you should immediately call (405) 325-HELP or send an email to IT Security at security@ou.edu.

Freeze any financial assets tied to the account

• If an account is associated with a credit card or bank account then you should alert your credit card company or bank. They should then freeze any account activity until you can be sure your financial data is safe.

Update software

• More than 90% of hacks exploit known software vulnerabilities that are at least a year or more old. It is extremely important to update your software so that your devices are protected by the latest security patches and you won't suffer from repeated attacks.

Install antivirus software

• If you weren't running antivirus software before, now is the perfect time to start. Just make sure you use a reputable antivirus - we have some recommendations on the Software page. 

Retrieve data

• After scanning your device for malware with your antivirus, you can now retrieve any copies of files that may have been corrupted. If you have been using a cloud service and/or an external hard drive to backup your data, you can download un-corrupted copies of your files.