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Worried About the JPMorgan Chase Hack? 6 Steps to Take Now

Amber SteelAugust 28, 2014
News broke that US law enforcement is investigating a hack of JPMorgan Chase and four other financial institutions. Though it remains unclear what was compromised and how it affects consumers, the sophisticated cyber attack appears to have resulted in the loss of sensitive information, including account information.
Given the potential scope of the hack, our  recommendation is to be as proactive as possible. Take action now and practice good online security habits so you can mitigate the fallout from this cyber attack and prepare yourself moving forward. Here are 6 actions we recommend taking today:

Change Your Passwords, Now.

Go directly to the websites of any financial institution where you have an online account, starting with JPMorgan Chase if applicable, then any banks, investment accounts, employee benefit accounts, and others that house financial assets. Use the password generator in LastPass to create a new, strong password for each of these accounts, saving the new password to LastPass as you submit the change on the website.

Use a Unique Master Password for Your Password Manager.

Your LastPass Master Password should be a unique password that you do not reuse on any of your other online accounts. If you’ve used your Master Password for other accounts, now’s a good time to change it.

Avoid Clicking Questionable Links. 

Phishing attacks are a common way to get you to divulge sensitive information. If you receive an email to reset your bank’s password, just open a new tab or window in your browser and enter the web address for your bank, logging in there directly rather than clicking through the link.

Check Your Security Challenge Results.

The LastPass Security Challenge gives you a comprehensive report on your password hygiene so you know where to take action. Located in the Tools menu of the LastPass browser icon, the Security Challenge alerts you to any weak or duplicate passwords, and tells you if any of your accounts were known to be affected by hacks of other online services - including this latest hack of JPMorgan Chase.

Enable Credit Monitoring.

There are a range of credit monitoring and identity fraud detection services on the market. In LastPass, you can set up a Form Fill Profile and enable free credit monitoring alerts to receive real-time notifications if there’s any activity on your credit report. Should you be alerted to suspicious activity, you can request your free annual credit report.

Monitor Account Activity.

Remain vigilant and watch for suspicious activity on your accounts, especially your financial, email, and social networking accounts. Watch for transactions you didn’t approve, emails you didn’t send, and posts you didn’t make- any of these could be an indication of unauthorized access to your accounts. With an increasing number of cyber attacks affecting consumers, it’s more important than ever to be vigilant in protecting your identity and digital life, and to manage your passwords with the same care and diligence that you would the keys in your physical life.