A sign outside the headquarters of JP Morgan Chase & Co in New York, September 19, 2013. JPMorgan Chase & Co will pay $920 million in penalties in two countries to settle some of its potential liabilities from its "London Whale" derivatives trading losses last year, according to terms made public by regulators on Thursday. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS LOGO CRIME LAW) - RTX13R91 (REUTERS/Mike Segar)
JP Morgan Chase Bank has revealed that 76 million household accounts, along with 7 million business accounts, were compromised in a recent cyber-attack. This attack ranks among the largest ever disclosed. Details indicate the hack occurred during June and July this past summer.
What we know
The breach affects everyone who visited the company’s websites, including Chase.com, or used its mobile app during June and July of 2014.
Customer names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses were taken. This doesn’t sound like much but it’s enough for scammers to have a field day.
JP Morgan Chase says that there is no evidence that account information for such affected customers - account numbers, passwords, user IDs, dates of birth or Social Security numbers - was compromised during this attack.
4 steps you must do now
If you bank with JP Morgan Chase - and this hack could actually affect 83 million people - I recommend the following:
1. Change your online and mobile app passwords and PINs for your debit and credit cards. Click here for tricks on creating strong passwords you won't forget. Be sure to update your personal security questions and answers too. This is important. Change your passwords on any other online account that used the same user names or passwords as your JP Morgan account.
2. Watch all your accounts like a hawk! In fact, set up text alerts to let you know about unusual activity - learn how to do that here. In some previous hack attacks, the victims were hit with small charges of just a few dollars to not attract too much attention.
3. If you notice any unusual activity on your accounts, contact your bank immediately and request new debit or credit card.
4. You’re likely to get email supposedly coming from Chase. If you get any email that asks you to click a link or download a file, it's a scam and delete it right away. Click here to learn how to spot these email scams.
Whoever is behind this attack went through a tremendous effort to hack about 90 different servers deep inside JP Morgan Chase. Even with a new debit card, you might not be safe. Hackers have other ways to steal your information. Click here for the five riskiest places to swipe your debit card.
On the Kim Komando Show, the nation's largest weekend radio talk show, Kim takes calls and dispenses advice on today's digital lifestyle, from smartphones and tablets to online privacy and data hacks. For her daily tips, free newsletters and more, visit her website at Komando.com. Kim also posts breaking tech news 24/7 at News.Komando.com.
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