Most enterprises would like to believe they won’t be the next victim in the headlines, however, 2016 seemed to prove otherwise, as it saw some of the largest data breaches ever.

Tech giant Yahoo! was hacked twice, Twitter confirmed 32 million user log-in credentials were compromised and posted for sale on the web and 167 million LinkedIn users were affected by a breach from 2012.

Sachin Kansal, vice president of consumer products at Lookout, a San Francisco-based mobile security company, recently shared with IBTimes how consumers can protect their account information from hackers and how businesses can prepare for 2017.

Attackers have become very sophisticated when it comes to targeting a company for confidential information, but Kansal believes companies, like Yahoo! could have taken additional steps to help protect themselves against a breach.

“One area where businesses should be taking a closer look when considering data security is mobile. Our mobile devices know a lot about our personal lives (where we live, bank, and who our friends/family are) and have direct access to company networks and data, making them an especially appealing target channel for attackers,” Kansal said.

Lookout recently partnered with the security experts at the Ponemon Institute and found security professionals say mobile devices were most likely the root of a data breach in organizations in 2016.

From a consumer perspective, Kansal says it’s important to have good security across all of your accounts and devices, even if you think the brands you share your information with are impenetrable.

Even if you don’t use a service anymore, you should “clean out” old accounts. “You should cancel/remove the account so that it doesn’t come back to haunt you in a breach down the line,” he said. "If you haven’t used your Yahoo! Account in a few years, why not just delete the account information?”

Another way to make sure you have good security across your accounts is that you should update your password regular or use a password manager.

“By using a password manager - this makes sure no two accounts share the same password - if one is hacked, the others stay safe. Even if one account shows up in a breach, the randomness of the password will make it almost impossible for attackers to crack, explains Kansal.

"Downloading password managers across all your devices - that means your laptop, tablet, and smartphones, makes it easy store to store passwords in one place," Kansal said.

Steps You Should Take If You’re A Victim Of A Data Breach

"Each breach is unique - next steps really depend on what information was compromised." Here are some common next steps users should take when they use a service that announces a data breach.

1. Update your password: "Users should change passwords, security questions and answers for both the impacted company account as well as any other accounts that used the same or similar information."

2. Be vigilant: "Affected users should be wary of any suspicious email activity or requests that seek to gain further personal information."

3. Monitor Financials: "closely monitor your financial accounts for any signs of fraud."

4 .Inquire about free identity protection: "Some businesses, when they announce a breach, will provide their customers with free identity protection services."

What’s Lookout’s forecast for mobile security in 2017? “Mobile threats are on the rise and our digital information has spread, making it harder to keep our personal identities safe from attackers.” Kansal said it's more important than ever people keep not only their mobile devices safe, but also protect all their digital information across the web.

Lookout’s mobile app is available for iOS and Android devices.