How to Secure Email Gmail Accounts
Of all your email accounts, the chances are that your Gmail account holds a big chunk of your personal data. To put this into perspective, you have to look at the fact that you use Chrome for browsing, Gmail for email, and Android OS for your phone. Therefore, your daily life literally revolves around Google, and you can imagine how much you stand to lose by failing to secure email Gmail accounts.
A few years ago, Google was shocked to the core after hundreds of email accounts got hacked. The Internet giant was forced to implement measures for securing its account. However, the onus is on you to ensure that your Gmail account is secure. Rather than leaving your email account vulnerable, here’s what you can do to secure it.
Protect Your Passwords
To secure email Gmail accounts, you should start with protecting your passwords. Ensure that your password is secure and avoid sharing it with others, however much you trust them. When choosing a password for your email account, choose a unique one, which isn’t used on any other account that you may have had. A weak password creates a loophole, which hackers can exploit to access your email account.
Email account passwords should be regularly changed. Every time you make this change, ensure that the new password is different from the previous one besides being unbreakable. After changing the password, log out of all devices where you might have signed in using the old login credentials. This way, anyone who might have breached your email account will be locked out.
Set a Recovery Phone, Email, and Security Question
When opening Gmail accounts, there’s one step that most people tend to overlook; setting up recovery phone, email, and security questions. Often, many people look at this as an unnecessary step without knowing how much it helps to secure their accounts.
When you set up a recovery email, phone, or security question, it will be difficult for hackers to breach your account. It will also be easier for you to access your account if a hacker tries to lock you out. What’s more, you’ll be notified via your recovery email every time the primary account gets logged into from a new location or device.
Activate Two-Step Verification
Hackers only need your password to access your Google account and linked accounts, including Gmail and YouTube. It’s quite easy for them to acquire your email password via the various phishing scams that they use. To secure email Gmail accounts, you should avoid exposing your passwords to cybercriminals.
Recently, Google introduced a two-step verification feature, which sends you an SMS with a code as you proceed with the second stage of the log-in process. A hacker can't access your login credentials and your phone at the same time. Therefore, two-step verification is a sure way to secure email Gmail accounts.
Enable HTTPS Security
It’s a no-brainer that Internet users who access their Gmail accounts over unsecured networks expose themselves to hackers. It’s advisable to browse public Wi-Fi safely because such connections always leave you vulnerable. If you have to use Wi-Fi in public places, ensure that you enable HTTPS when using Gmail. To do this, sign in to your account and proceed to Mail settings. You should then click on “Always use HTTPS” to enable this security feature.
Monitor Account Activity Constantly
Anyone can try to access your Gmail account. It doesn’t need to be a cybercriminal. It could be a friend or even a jilted ex-partner. It’s easier for such individuals to access your account since they know a great deal about you. Cracking your password won’t be difficult for them, especially if you are one of those people who use pet names, phone numbers, or birth dates as your password.
In this regard, ensure that you always check your account’s activity. To do this, log into the account and proceed to the bottom of the page where you will see “Last Account Activity.” Next to these words, you will see “Details.” By clicking on this, you will see where and how your Gmail account is being used. In case you suspect any suspicious activity, change the account’s password and security question immediately. Likewise, activate two-step verification.
Google knows so much about you, and hackers want to get a piece of the pie. You should secure email Gmail accounts so that your personal information doesn’t end up in the wrong hands. With the recent rise of hacking attempts targeting Gmail accounts, you should leverage NuEduSEC’s cloud-native email filtering solutions to ward off phishers you might want to steal your login credentials.