The impetus of this site and its deployment was personal. Seeing many friends and family being solicited for personal information and some being scammed, enough was enough. I have created this site to share what I know, to create awareness, and hopefully help others understand the dynamic digital landscape we live in. It's a jungle out there and people need navigation! Read and add your insights into the blog posts! Suggestions, please email me at admin@secureyourcircle.com

🔐 A data breach happens when unauthorized individuals access sensitive information like emails, passwords, or financial details, often through hacking, phishing, or accidental leaks.

🕵️‍♂️ You can use our Breach Monitoring Tool here on SecureYourCircle.com. We use the trusted database through an Have I Been Pwned (HIBP) API. I will be adding others and hope to have this site utilized as a '1 stop shop' for data breaches; there are a variety of considerations related to consumer tools that any one individual or family should be considering to protect themselves.

⚠️ If your data was exposed: Read my blog post: The Been Breached Checklist (what to do next): The breakdown of that post: 1. First step - Identify what exactly was compromised. You can't protect what you don't know was potentially breached. (email, passwords, phone #'s, social security #'s); if you received a personal letter and feel and know it's not a fake letter and validated, read it for specific items that may have been involved in the breach. Don't read it and give it shortshrift and just throw it out! 2. Second step - Of those accounts breached, update those passwords or close those accounts that you aren't using any longer. Stop using simple passwords like your pet name and # after it, or your child's name, etc. Use complex passwords. Consider leveraging the complex password generators/managers on my site. 3. Enable 2FA - Two factor authentication is crucial for email, banking, social media accounts. If a perpetrator has your information, the 2FA will notify you on your phone if that perpetrator is trying to log into those accounts. Many use SMS over app based authentication (Google authenticator, etc.); use what you are comfortable in setting up. 4. On some of your accounts, look for 'login alerts'. Something that can "t" you up in case someone gets in that you know, it's not you. If you have parents who are elderly, this is also a must as you can monitor if anyone other than them has possibly logged into a personal account. 5. If you've been breached, expect more phishing scams, the messaging and inquiry are not coincidental. Be wary of the calls and emails pretending to be from a breached service. Consider purchasing my book "Mind Games: Phishing Scams with a Psychological Twist" to learn more about this genre. 6. Credential stuffing - If you've been breached and passwords were transparent and not hashed, perpetrators will try that password on many of your known accounts. Don't recycle the passwords, and many have passwords uniform across many sites, CHANGE THEM! 7. If email was involved, change the password IMMEDIATELY. Your email is a conduit to resetting other services and accounts. 8. If sensitive data was compromised such as financial details or SS#'s, immediately tell yourself I could be victim of identity theft. You can freeze or monitor your credit through Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. My book also goes over this. 9. As aforementioned, don't recycle passwords, use stronger/complex passwords, remove accounts that have been dormant. 10. Stay locked into www.secureyourcircle.com for tools, resources, advice; I typically update and share information from the FTC, FBI and any other reputable news source. 11. Lastly, there are a variety of tools on my site - VPN's, Anti-virus software, password managers, and much more. It's very much a one-stop shop where I add more items monthly. Hope this helps! Protect yourselves people. None of us are immune.

🛡️ We offer: Have I Been Pwned? API - check for data breaches Password and Authentication security options Phishing Awareness and Education Email and Website security Dark Web and Data breach monitoring tools Network and device security Browsing Privacy and Protection VPN and Online Privacy Cybersecurity News through Google RSS, Threat intelligence Identity Theft Protection tools I add vendors in each genre above as time permits.

🔒 Yes. We do not store or share your data without your consent. All searches are encrypted and secure.

🎣 Phishing is when attackers try to trick you into giving away sensitive information, usually through fake emails or websites. ✅ Consider purchasing my book on Amazon - Mind Games: Phishing Scams with a Psychological Twist. The book will help with digital awareness and digital literacy. It's targeted to middle aged population because we're the ones who need to protect our parents who may not understand this digital world, and because we also need to protect our nations children who are in a far more advanced technological landscape than we ever were.