Report Fraud says email and social media account hacking is the most reported form of cyber crime in the UK. Hacked accounts are often used to ask the victim's friends and family for money.
For sole traders, creators and small business owners, that email or social account often is the business.
Two jobs come first. Make each account harder to break into, and plan how you'd get it back. Both use settings already built into your phone and apps, so there's no extra software to buy.
Work through it in order. The first three parts protect the accounts that open the door to everything else. It suits a family sorting their phones as well as a sole trader protecting the business inbox.
£19 · digital download (one PDF, 13 A4 pages, printable).
Who it's for
- Individuals and families in the UK who want to get their accounts sorted properly, once
- Adult children setting up a parent's phone and accounts
- Sole traders, creators and small business owners whose email or social accounts are the business
It's not designed for IT teams managing company systems. If that's you, see our resources for IT providers.
What's included
- Step-by-step lockdown guide for your main email (Gmail, Outlook), your Apple or Google account, banking apps, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Amazon
- Passkeys and 2-step verification explained: what to switch on, and which second step is strongest
- Password manager set-up using the one already built into your device
- Recovery codes worksheet to fill in by hand and keep somewhere safe
- SIM-swap protection: what to ask your UK mobile provider
- Breach check: how to see whether your email has turned up in a known data breach
- Home router basics
- The "Hacked? The first 30 minutes" card, with links to each platform's own recovery pages and UK reporting routes (Report Fraud, 7726, [email protected], 159)
- Ready-to-send message to warn friends, family or followers if you're hacked
- Printable one-page checklist and a short check to repeat every three months
Built on UK guidance
Steps are based on guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Report Fraud, Ofcom, Take Five and Stop Scams UK. They also draw on each platform's own help pages. Sources are listed at the back, so you can check them yourself.
Honest scope
This is a practical guide. It's designed to make your accounts harder to break into and easier to recover, but no guide can promise an account will never be compromised. It's general guidance, not legal, financial or personalised security advice. App menus change over time, so the guide links to each platform's own help page.
Everything in the download
One PDF, 13 A4 pages, printable. It holds the step-by-step guide, the "Hacked? The first 30 minutes" card, a template message to your friends, family or followers, the recovery details worksheet and the printable one-page checklist.
Written by
Secordit Intelligence was set up in February 2026 by Matthew Protheroe-Hill, its director. Before that, he co-founded Sencode Cyber Security and was a director there from 2019 to 2023. Qualification: BSc (Hons) Cyber Security & Networks (1st Class), Teesside University.
Delivery
Digital download (PDF, A4, printable) after payment.