This year has been tumultuous, with cyber attacks becoming more sophisticated and ever-present. I was recently a victim of a major cyber attack that left me feeling powerless, drained and discouraged. Despite attempts to safeguard my accounts through two-factor authentication and new passwords, hackers were still able to access and transfer thousands of dollars from my Amazon, Facebook and PayPal accounts. As I worked with customer service representatives to restore what was lost, I became further disappointed by the system’s lack of assistance for customers in need. In the end, it was up to me to discover how to protect myself from future cyber attacks – an issue we all must contend with as hackers become smarter.