Lion Cipher Lab
What to do if your account is hacked
- Foundations
- Beginner
- ~30 min
- Free · no account required
Why it matters
Sooner or later, almost everyone faces it: a login stops working, friends say you sent messages you never wrote, or your bank flags a charge you did not make. In that moment the difference between a bad day and a real disaster is knowing the order of operations. Move too slowly and the attacker drains an account or pivots into the next one; move in the wrong order — securing a minor account while your email is still compromised — and you lock the window while the front door stands open. This lab is the calm, exact runbook: regain access, lock the account down, undo the hidden changes…
What you'll learn
- acting calmly and in the right order during an account takeover
- regaining access to a locked-out email, social, or bank account
- changing your password and signing out every active session
- turning on MFA to make a stolen password useless
- finding and undoing an attacker's hidden changes (forwarding rules, recovery contacts, linked apps)
- spotting other accounts put at risk by a reused password
- notifying contacts and your bank and reporting the incident
Steps in this lab
- The first minute: don't panic, but move fast
- Regain access from a trusted device
- Change the password, then sign out every session
- Turn on MFA so a stolen password isn't enough next time
- Undo the hidden changes an attacker leaves behind
- Protect every account that shared that password
- Tell the people who need to know, and report it
- Close the door for good