{"id":989,"date":"2023-08-09T16:50:12","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T16:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/how-safe-is-my-data-after-a-hack-or-leak\/"},"modified":"2023-08-09T16:50:12","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T16:50:12","slug":"how-safe-is-my-data-after-a-hack-or-leak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/260web.com\/news\/how-safe-is-my-data-after-a-hack-or-leak\/","title":{"rendered":"How safe is my data after a hack or leak?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How safe is my data after a hack or leak?<\/p>\n

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\"Person<\/picture><\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Following news stories in the past few days, it’s understandable you might be concerned about your data.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The UK’s elections watchdog revealed on Tuesday it had been the victim of a “complex cyber-attack” potentially affecting millions of voters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Then on Wednesday it emerged personal details of police officers in Northern Ireland were published accidentally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But what can you do if you are concerned your data may have been leaked, and how can you prevent issues?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How safe is my data?<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Generally, when public organisations such as the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) respond to Freedom of Information requests they should remove any identifying data. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In this case, though, the force published confidential details by accident, leaving some officers and their families with concerns about their safety.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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However, an average person affected by a data leak or hack should not panic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Electoral Commission has apologised to those affected by the cyber-attack, but says on its website the data it holds is “limited, and much of it is already in the public domain”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“According to the risk assessment used by the Information Commissioner’s Office [the data regulator] to assess the harm of data breaches, the personal data held on electoral registers, typically name and address, does not in itself present a high risk to individuals,” it says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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This information could be combined with other bits of data about you, such as what you share on social media, to identify you – but this takes a lot of time and cyber criminals will generally only target prominent individuals like this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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And unless you have opted out of being named on the open electoral register, much of this information will already be publicly available online.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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If you are concerned about a different data breach, and are worried that your information may have been lost, there are also websites which will tell you if your email was part of a known data breach, such as the free online service Have I Been Pwned (HIBP).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What can I do to keep my data safe?<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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If you believe your password to an account may have been compromised, it makes sense to change it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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But you should be mindful not to respond to any emails recommending this, as they could be attempting to scam you – instead you should visit the website as normal, and change your password there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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This is also why it is important to have different passwords for different accounts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By always keeping different log-in credentials, a future hack is less likely to affect you seriously as the hackers will not be able to use your data beyond accessing a single service you used.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Related Topics<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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