Exercise 3: The Escalation Path

Write down, right now, the answer to this question: "If I thought I'd shared sensitive data with a tool I shouldn't have, who would I contact and how?" Write down two versions. One for work, one for personally.

At work: your IT security contact, your manager, your HR department — whatever your organization's structure demands. Include the phone number or email. Include how to find the formal incident reporting process if your organization has one.

Personally: the account recovery process for your email and main social media accounts. Your bank's fraud department number. Your local police department's cybercrime reporting process if you know it.

This is the escalation path from Lesson 3. Having it written down, visible, in a place you'll see it, means you won't have to figure it out under stress when something goes wrong. That moment is already hard. Having a plan makes it manageable.