Learn what steps to take to protect your personal information from being breached.
By Rebecca Styles
Investigative writer
Latitude Finance is responding to a cyber-attack where a reported 300,000 customers had their personal information compromised.
Here’s what you can do to protect your personal information if you’re caught up in a data breach.
What to do now
Change your password for the account that has been breached and don’t
use the same password across multiple accounts.
Keep an eye on the affected account for any suspicious activity. If
there is any, contact the account provider.
It’s likely you’ll hear about a breach from the affected
organisation; but if you haven’t, get in touch with them to
understand what personal information has been compromised.
Be alert to any calls or emails asking for your password to verify
account details. Legitimate organisations will never ask for
passwords to online accounts.
If your email and password has been compromised, and you use those
details to access other accounts – like Trade Me or eBay for example
– change them as soon as you can.
Need help? Contact Netsafe or IDCare, organisations that provide
guidance and support people affected by data breaches.
How to protect yourself against future breaches
Set-up multi-factor authentication for accounts you access online.
Limit the amount of personal information you share online,
particularly on social media.
Check that your account recovery details are up to date. It will help
you reset account passwords if someone else is trying to access your
account.
Avoid reusing passwords for online accounts.
You may be able to manage what devices can be logged in to certain
accounts. So for example if you just access banking on your phone,
you’d be alerted if it was being accessed on a laptop.
You can check whether your email or number is subject to a data
breach via have I been pwned?
Scams and how to avoid them
Wondering if that email or phone call is a scam? Learn about the most common types of scams and how to protect yourself.
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