Tech giant targeting hackers in hiring raid

What to do if your data is compromised in a company hack?

By Savannah Meacham Channel 9 News

WHAT DETAILS CAN BE EXPOSED IN A MAJOR COMPANY HACK?

It all comes down to what data the company has of yours.

Richard Buckland, Professor of CyberCrime at UNSW, said the government needs to act to protect Australians by limiting what companies can hold.

But at this stage, sensitive information held can be as simple as names, dates of birth, addresses or phone numbers.

On the other end of the spectrum, Buckland said the extremely concerning Latitude breach could put victims at serious financial risk.

"The data they hold on to is the data they use to identify us before a financial transaction," he told 9news.com.au.

"If the bad guy gets it then the bad guy can go and do financial transactions."

The data includes all the information required to take out a loan or a credit card, which can be done online.

WHAT SHOULD I DO IF MY DATA IS BREACHED IN A CYBER ATTACK? 

If your driver's licence or passport numbers are exposed in a major breach, you should contact the company to have these identification documents replaced.

Buckland said this should be done as quickly as possible.

Optus covered the cost of passport replacements while state and territory governments gave impacted customers free driver's licence replacements.

Similarly, Latitude has offered to cover the costs of replacements.

If you've been compromised, Buckland also recommended checking your credit history through one of Australia's three credit bodies.

This is where you will be able to detect if a criminal has tried to take out a loan in your name.

It might not stop you from being hacked but it will let you know earlier, Buckland said.

"If a criminal goes to another bank you have no relation with, that bank will contact one of these people to let them know," he said.

To protect yourself from large amounts of money being taken, Buckland advised keeping bank accounts separate, with only a small amount in an everyday account that's shared with companies.

"The idea being if someone gets in they can't get everything," he said.

BRACE FOR FUTURE SCAMS AS CUNNING THIEVES SEIZE ON BREACHES

"It will be a wave of scams going on now," Buckland warned.

He advised people to be suspicious of anyone who contacts you and not reveal any information or transfer money. Here's some examples to be careful of.

Be wary of messages that know your name, birthdate, address or other personal information.

In the case that you an email or message like this, never click the link within it.

"Do nothing, no matter how convincing a phone call, email or letter don't trust it," he said.

HOW TO AVOID BEING A VICTIM OF A MAJOR COMPANY CYBERATTACK?

This is a tough one as the data has been exposed through the company.

This is where Buckland said the government needs to act.

"We need laws stopping companies from keeping data, laws stopping companies from demanding data and laws stopping companies from storing data," he said.

Sadly for customers, there isn't a lot you can do when a company is hacked.

"The best thing you can do is be obnoxious and not hand out data but that's difficult," he said.

"These are hard things for people to do it's unfair that consumers take on and wear all the risk."