Has Your Data Been Breached? How to Check and Respond

Data breaches happen constantly, and no amount of personal care fully prevents a company you use from being compromised. What you can control is how fast you find out and how well you respond.

How to check

• Use a reputable breach-notification service to see whether your email or phone appears in known breaches.
• Turn on breach alerts in your password manager and browser, which flag compromised credentials automatically.
• Review account login history and security notifications from major services.

If you're affected

1. Change the password on the breached account — and anywhere you reused it.
2. Enable 2FA if it was not already on.
3. Watch for targeted phishing; breached data fuels convincing scams.
4. If financial data was exposed, monitor statements and consider a fraud alert or credit freeze.

Unique passwords turn a breach from a crisis into a chore: you rotate one password instead of worrying about every account.