How To Protect Your Finances From Hackers With FireFox, Google Password Check

How To Protect Your Finances From Hackers With FireFox, Google Password Check is a what many people would want to know  right now.

Have you ever been a victim of hackers before?

Have you lost your phone recently or was it stolen?

Has your phone, laptop, wallet, email, social media accounts, etc been hacked?

If hackers have ever attacked your any of your digital device or accounts, then you stand the risk of losing a lot.

Dangers of letting hackers steal your data:

Meanwhile, note that any stolen personal information that leads data thieves to your identity is dangerous.

It can let hackers do everything from make purchases and opening up credit accounts in your name.

They can also file for your tax refunds and make medical claims, all posing as “you.”

Hackers take login credentials and other data they steal from people to the dark web.

On the dark web, they either sell or make those data free for other hackers to download.

So, like the data breach of T-Mobile’s customers, if you have been a victim, then continue reading this article.

You don’t have to worry as we have steps you can take to save yourself of regrets.

Here are some things you can do to help secure your sensitive data against any hack.

These are regardless of whether your information has been included in any number of data breaches.

After a hack, there are some monitoring tools that can alert you to which of your stolen credentials are out on the dark web.

The tools can also give you a running start at limiting the damage the thieves can do.

Here’s how to use two free monitoring tools — Google’s Password Checkup  and Mozilla’s Firefox Monitor — to see which of your email addresses and passwords are compromised, so you can take action.

But before we tell you how to use those two tools, lets consider other safety steps too.

Freeze your credit with all three bureaus

One of the first things you should do is put a freeze on your credit.

Doing so will prevent anyone with your information from opening a line of credit, or taking out any loans under your name.

Freezing your credit won’t take long:

You’ll just need to fill out a form with Equifax, Experian and Transunion (one from each company) to make the request.

The downside to freezing your credit is that when you want to make certain purchases, such as upgrading your iPhone, you’ll need to go through the process of briefly removing your credit freeze — and then refreezing once you’re done.

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Yes, it’s inconvenient. But the extra time you take to freeze, unfreeze and then refreeze your credit is worth it and pales in comparison to the time you’d spend trying to reverse the damage done by someone opening a credit card or line of credit in your name.

Use monitoring services to keep an eye on your credit

Staying on top of what’s on your credit report is an easy way to make sure someone isn’t using your information nefariously.

Some companies offer free credit monitoring to victims of a data breach, but oftentimes that’s only temporary.

For example, T-Mobile is offering two years of McAfee’s ID Theft Protection Service for free to those affected by the latest breach.

Take advantage of offers like this if your data is included in a breach, but once the limited-time offer expires, be ready to sign up for another service.

There are several credit monitoring services that help you watch your credit report and using one could mean you will receive an alert and hopefully catch false accounts as soon as they happen.

Sign up for identity-theft monitoring

Monitoring your credit report is an important step to take; however, there’s so much more that can be done with your personal information.

In addition to keeping an eye on your Social Security number and credit, an identity-monitoring service will monitor the dark web for anyone selling or trading your personal information or arrests under your name.

It should give you peace of mind if someone tries to do anything with your personal information.

Use a password manager to create and store logins

Using a unique and strong password for every online account you own is an easy way to make sure a breach of one service doesn’t lead to bad guys accessing more of your online accounts where you used the same password.

Instead of reusing a password — or a series of passwords — rely on a password manager to create, store and autofill your login information.

Don’t wait to protect your personal data

The most important aspect of taking action after a hack or breach is announced is to not wait for the affected companies to announce how they want you to handle it.

Be proactive. At the end of the day, it’s your information and your financial future that’s at stake.

After locking down your credit and starting monitoring services, begin to look at suggestions from the affected companies.

Some breaches lead to settlements, forcing the company to offer free services or settlements, as in the 2017 Equifax case.

How to use Google’s Password Checkup

As part of its password manager service, Google offers free Password Checkup tool.

The tool monitors usernames and passwords you use to sign into sites outside of Google’s domain.

It also notifies you if hackers have exposed those login credentials.

Here is how it works:

1. If you use Google’s password service to keep track of your login credentials in Chrome or Android, head to Google’s password manager site and tap Go to Check passwords.

2. Tap Check Passwords and verify it’s you.

3. Enter the password for your Google account.

4. After thinking for a bit, Google will display any issues it’s found, including compromised, reused and weak passwords.

5. Next to each reused or weak password is a Change password button you can tap to pick a more secure one.

How to use Mozilla’s Firefox Monitor

Mozilla’s free Firefox Monitor service helps you track which of your email addresses have been part of known data breaches.

1. To start, head to the Firefox Monitor page.

2. Enter an email address and tap Check for Breaches.

If the email was part of known breach since 2007, Monitor will show you which hack it was part of.

It will also show you what else may have been exposed.

3. Below a breach, tap More about this breach to see what was stolen and what steps Mozilla recommends, such as updating your password.

You can also sign up to have Monitor notify you if your email is involved in a future data breach. Monitor scans your email address against those found data breaches and alerts you if you were involved.

1. Near the bottom of the Firefox Monitor page, tap the Sign up for Alerts button.

2. If you need to, create a Firefox account.

3. Tap Sign in to see a breach summary for your email.

4. At the bottom of the page, you can add additional email addresses to monitor.

Mozilla will then send you an email at each address you add with a subject line.

Remember that “Firefox Monitor finds your info in these breaches” when it finds that email address involved in a breach, along with instructions about what to do about following the breach.

Culled from CNET.