I've been dealing with a major hacking issue and it's really stressing me out. My job gives me a MacBook that I also use for personal stuff, so all my important info is on there. I have three email accounts: Outlook for work, Yahoo for junk, and Gmail for my banking and bills. Recently, I noticed that a password reset for my 401k went to my work email, which I missed while I was on vacation. Now, I can't log in because it seems like my account doesn't exist anymore.
This isn't the first time I've had trouble—my Bank of America account linked to my Gmail was hacked, my Yahoo social media accounts were compromised, and even my work Outlook email was breached. It feels like all my email accounts have had their passwords changed, and even with 2FA enabled for all of them, they still manage to get in. I'm just at my wit's end and need to know what steps I can take to secure my accounts. I've already checked for forwarding rules and verified that all devices signed in are mine. I'm in the process of moving my banking to ProtonMail for better security, but I need help getting rid of this hacking problem.
5 Answers
Have you talked to your IT department about this? They might have specific protocols to follow. It's important to reset your credentials from a secure device, double-check for any unknown account activity or forwarding rules, and perhaps clean your Mac or let IT handle it.
First things first, you should definitely reach out to your work's IT department (if you have one). If not, you might want to contact Sconet, since they handle your IT support. They can help investigate your MacBook for any issues. Also, make sure you really have 2FA set up; it's essential for account security!
Mixing personal and work accounts on a company device isn't ideal—check if your company has policies against that. I recommend resetting your passwords for all accounts, logging out from other sessions, and enabling 2FA. Just be sure to avoid SMS for 2FA if possible—use authentication apps or hardware keys instead!
You should definitely get your IT team involved to examine your device. For now, go through and change all of your passwords, enable 2FA but preferably not through SMS. Make sure you log out of all sessions on your accounts and then look into completely wiping your Mac if necessary.
A good practice is to reset all your passwords using long, random characters, and switch to using passkeys wherever you can for added security. It's a bit of a hassle, but it may help you regain control over your accounts.
Yeah, we don't have an in-house IT team. Just reaching out to Sconet seems like the best bet. What should I tell them?