6 Steps Consumers Should Take Following a Hack

Corporate employees typically have IT departments and security teams available to them when a breach takes place. But what about the everyday consumer? 

Anybody can be hacked or have a credit card compromised. According to Liz Lasher, vice president of fraud, financial crime and cyber risk at FICO, consumers can prevent that from happening just by taking better care of their passwords. She points to the recently released FICO Consumer Digital Banking study, which found only 42% of Americans said they use separate passwords to access multiple accounts and only 23% use a password manager.

"Consumers can report their incidents to the authorities, but they are better off taking practical, proactive steps to improve security," Lasher advises.

With that in mind, we've compiled a list of tips that consumers can use in the event of a breach, along with how to prevent future attacks. These tips also apply to anyone who runs a small business, or rank-and-file factory and retail workers who don't have corporate expense account jobs and access to highly trained security pros.