Is my digital identity threatened? What should I do if my email, address, or phone number has been leaked and made public? Or worse, what if sensitive personal information like photos or videos has been leaked? What can I do to protect my digital identity? These are some of the most frequent questions we receive in our offices.

A few days ago, news broke that Facebook has once again suffered a new cyberattack where the personal data of 533 million accounts were leaked.

This is one of the largest attacks the social network has suffered, and as if that weren’t enough, this time even its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, was not spared from the leak. Specifically, his full name, address, and phone number were leaked, and if that wasn’t enough, data belonging to his wife, Priscilla Chan, was also compromised. This incident makes it clear that we are all exposed.

What do cybercriminals do with all this data?

The leaked accounts have reached forums on the Deep Web, a part of the internet not indexed by traditional search engines like Google.

Cybercriminals sell all this information to use in scams that employ social engineering techniques as bait. This includes phishing or smishing campaigns, digital identity impersonation, and social media account theft, among others.

In more serious cases, leaked information can be used to cyberbully victims or even extort them.

How do I know if my Facebook account, or any other social network, has been a victim of leaks or cyberattacks?

It is now common for large companies such as banks, social networks, multinationals, or internet services like Google to suffer cyberattacks every so often, where millions of users’ personal data end up being exposed on the Deep Web.

In the cybersecurity sector, it was said a few years ago that there were two types of people: those who have been hacked and those who will be. Today, we can say that there are two types of people: “those who have been hacked and know it, and those who have been hacked but don’t know it yet.”

To find out if one of your accounts may have been affected by these leaks, we have a great tool called Have I Been Pwned?

Enter the email address linked to your social media accounts or applications. The server will search it against a history of leaks to date, and if it finds any matches, it will tell you which cyberattack may have compromised it.

How do I protect my digital identity if I discover that my personal data has been leaked? Or worse, what do I do if I am a victim of cyberbullying or online extortion?

There are two clear phases to protect your digital identity:

Phase 1: Erase your digital identity prior to the cyberattack

1. Activate Google Alerts: Create alerts with your personal data: full name, ID number, postal address, email… this way, if any publication appears on a social network, forum, etc., with your personal data, a Google alert will notify you.
2. Delete: If sensitive content such as photos or any other content affecting your privacy has been leaked, request the removal of your data directly from Google.
3. Eliminate: Delete your email account. If your email has been so exposed that it has suffered numerous leaks, our advice is to delete it. This way, you can start fresh.
4. Disconnect: Unlink your email, phone, full name, bank details, or any other sensitive data from your social networks.

It will also be necessary to assess whether the hack you have been a victim of may be subject to some type of crime and if legal action can be taken.

Phase 2: Create your new digital identity, post-cyberattack

1. Create your new self: Create a new identity using a pseudonym; do not use your real identity or, of course, link sensitive data from your real life.
2. Create a new email account and get a new mobile number
3. Make sure to…:

• Do not reuse passwords: Create a unique password for each social network. If this is cumbersome, use a password manager like LastPass.
• Activate two-factor verification or authentication for each social network or app you use. You will find this in the application settings menus, and once inside the settings menu, review the security settings.
• Activate login alerts: This way, if someone tries to access your email account, a social media profile, or any app you use, you will receive an alert.

PROTOCOL TO PROTECT YOUR DIGITAL IDENTITY IF YOU HAVE SUFFERED A LEAK