You’ve just been hacked. How can you protect your data and prevent it from happening again?

If you've been hacked, it's critical to act fast. First, isolate the breach and assess the damage. Update all systems and change passwords immediately. Look into how the breach happened to prevent future attacks. Strengthen security with tools like intrusion detection and educate your team on cybersecurity. Have a plan for future incidents and keep a close eye on your systems. If needed, don't hesitate to get help from experts to investigate and resolve the issue.

If you've just experienced a hack, it's crucial to act swiftly and methodically to mitigate the damage, protect your data, and prevent future incidents. Here's a step-by-step approach: Contain the Breach Assess and Analyze the Incident Eradicate the Threat Recover and Restore Notify Stakeholders Improve Security Posture Implement a Continuous Monitoring Strategy Recovering from a hack is not just about immediate response and remediation but also about taking proactive steps to enhance your cybersecurity posture and resilience against future attacks.

1. Let your incident response training kick in, alert those who should be in the loop know immediately. Should your company have an incident response team and framework activate it. Now we can isolate the affected systems, take snapshots of any effected systems with memory intact. Naturally this will lead into the other processes of loss identification and impact on other systems. The one thing not to do is over react and start destroying parts of your infrastructure in the name of the purge. Most often the adversary has been in the system for a few days to weeks already.

In my experience, identifying a breach quickly is paramount. Modern threats are evolving; hands-on or "interactive intrusions" by adversaries actively executing actions on a host are becoming more common. These attackers can mimic legitimate user behavior, making it difficult to distinguish normal activity from an attack. The year 2023 saw a 60% increase in such interactive intrusion campaigns compared to the previous year, with the technology sector being the most targeted. Adversaries, once inside the network, aim to move laterally to reach their objectives. The average "breakout time" in 2023 was 62 minutes, down from 84 minutes the previous year, emphasizing the need for swift response to mitigate damage from such intrusions.

Pinpointing the entry point of a breach is paramount. Investigate potential avenues such as phishing attempts, malware infiltrations, compromised passwords, or unauthorized access through stolen devices. Delve into your security systems, scrutinize browser histories, email settings, and scrutinize each online account for any unusual activities. It's also prudent to inform relevant financial institutions or service providers to stay vigilant on transactional activities, safeguarding against any unauthorized actions.

To contain the damage after a breach, based on NSA guidelines, immediate steps include enabling detailed logging on network devices. This logs all activities, helping identify the extent and method of the breach. Configure devices to send these logs to centralized servers for redundancy and ensure they're reviewed regularly. Implement multiple layers of defense, like diverse firewalls and monitoring systems, to monitor and restrict traffic, creating a more resilient network against future attacks. This strategic approach not only addresses the current breach but also reinforces your network's defenses.

Assumption: Personal device hacked (based on the question & tenor of the article) 1. WiFi Router: Change your router admin username & password and SSID & password. Ensure WPA3 or atleast WPA2. 2. Disconnect: Get offline. Transfer data to an external drive and encrypt them. Scan the drive later before transferring data back to your device. 3. MFA: Use multifactor authentication app (Authenticator etc) for important accts - email, social media, bank site/app etc.

Use a password, lock code or encryption. Make sure your passwords are at least eight characters long, with a mix of upper and lower case, and include numbers or other characters, and never use the auto-complete feature for passwords. You can use the storage encryption feature on your phone to protect your private data, and set your screen to timeout after five minutes or less.

Restoring your data to a secure state is essential. If backups are available, they should be utilized to recover files and documents. In the absence of backups, data recovery tools or services may be considered, with caution to avoid further data compromise. It may also be beneficial to consider resetting devices to factory settings or reinstalling operating systems and applications to ensure a clean slate.

Assumption: Personal device hacked (based on the question & tenor of the article) 1. Updates: Always keep your device OS & apps updated. 2. AV: Install & update licenced antivirus. 3. Browser security: Visit websites that have 'https' in their URL - preferably through a search result - search results may warn you if the site is malware infested. Install extensions only if you are sure of the contributor and it's reputation. 4. Apps: Install apps from the official app store only. Run away if a link directs you to download an APK (Android) or IPA (Apple). 5. Links: Hover over the link to see if it gives you the destination (unfortunately it can be spoofed too). Don't scan QR code or click on shortened links in a doubtful mail/message

In my experience, a crucial step following a cybersecurity incident is to perform a rigorous review of your security posture. First, update and patch all systems to close any vulnerabilities that were exploited. Continual improvement is essential. Adopt a Zero Trust security model, which dictates that trust is never assumed, whether inside or outside the network. With this model, you must always verify identities and privileges. Regularly conduct security awareness training for all employees, emphasizing the importance of recognizing phishing attempts and following best security practices.

Reporting the incident to the appropriate authorities is indeed a critical step. Notifying law enforcement, relevant institutions, and possibly affected parties ensures a structured response to the cybersecurity incident. Additionally, lodging a complaint with organizations like the FTC or IC3 can contribute to broader efforts against cyber threats.

I would say reporting the incident or breach needs to happen as soon as you become aware of it. This is particularly the case with regulations e.g NIS Directive and GDPR. This will also stand you in good stead with those regulatory authorities too. The information can then be updated as more information is known.

This may need to happen earlier in the process, but it can be complicated to know when, how, and to whom the incident is reported. You need to have an understanding of who you are required to report a cybersecurity event that has occurred, and sometimes this requirement is triggered by specific attributes of the incident or a materiality threshold. Understanding any regulatory and contractual requirements is key to avoiding potential negative consequences, so hopefully those are understood or easily referenced when a cybersecurity incident happens. You may need to consider other reporting beyond your requirements for reputational concerns, and I definitely advise speaking with legal counsel before engaging in this.

If you're asking this question and there are significant financial interests or reputation at stake, you likely are going to want to bring in help from the outside to guide you through a logical response to the incident. There are many reputable vendors that can be called upon to take you through the various steps to protect your network/data from additional compromise, recover your data/systems, and remove the threat. Additionally, they are able to provide you with a report that details what happened and then make recommendations to improve your security to prevent or delay future incidence. Unless your organization has a mature cybersecurity team, it can be difficult to produce a report that is superior to a specialist vendor's report.

You can protect your data by having a well designed architecture with defence in depth in mind. Layered controls will help contain an incident and minimise the impact.

Another important step is collecting forensic evidence and preserving them in a tamper proof format for any follow up analysis, or sharing with law enforcement. Ensure that logs, data, any server images and virtual memory snapshots are taken and stored in read-only mode. If there has been physical servers or personal computer involved, use disk imaging tools that don't modify the storage. The key concept to remember here is READ-ONLY.