10 Tips To Protect Your Emails From Getting Hacked

What is the most common form of communication in an organisation? Yes, you are right, it is email. It has truly revolutionized the way we contact and keep in touch with the people, be it in the vicinity or abroad. Currently, there are over 2 billion active email users around the world because it’s free, convenient and user-friendly. Emails provide a unique identity to every user, which is why it is highly targeted by cyber criminals. Once hacked, vital information related to you and your work is very much affected. Sometimes, you are also at the risk of identity theft which has become a severe problem in today’s world. One internet security breach can put your reputation, vital information and finances all at stake.

How Emails Can Get Hacked?

Now, you must be thinking how my email can get hacked? Let us introduce you to not one but many things that can give the much-needed access to cyber criminals to hack into your email account.

• Logging into sites while buying things online
• Email/password being compromised in a data breach
• Clicking a phishing link in an email
• Forgot to log out of your account after using a public PC or device
• Didn’t use up-to-date security software on your PC
• Using an unsecured Wi-Fi network

Eventually, you are not left with many choices but to abandon your email account and sign up for a new one. This is an extremely time consuming process as you have to change your logins from every account online. Then you have to sign up with your new account and have to keep the password strong as well as unique to keep it protected from the hackers. Another thing that you have to do is, to inform your friends and family about the same to ensure that your new account doesn’t get hacked.

The good news is that there are ways through which you can protect yourself online. Take a look at these methods and practice them to keep cyber criminals at bay.

1. Set A Strong Password Or Use Password Manager

Your password holds the key to your personal kingdom that has information that you would not like to share with anyone else. So, it is imperative to create such a password that is easy to remember and safeguard against any thwart brute force of cyber attacks. The first thing here to do is set up an uncrackable password. You can take help and change all your online passwords with a reputable password manager. It will give you strong and unique passwords for each login, thus keeping your online presence completely safe. It also does all the remembering for you but you have to remember the master password that will let you access this software.

2. Two-Factor Authentication & Multi-Factor Authentication To The Rescue

Want to add an extra layer of protection to your password? The best way to do that is via Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) & Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). These methods have become one of the most practiced industry standards to create more secure environment. What exactly happens is when you select additional secure layer with 2FA is that when you login, it asks for another thing in addition to the password. It could be a code sent to your phone, bio metrics like fingerprint, eye scan etc. or a physical token. Here, the advantage is that no matter how simple or complex your password is it will be a half puzzle for cyber criminals. There’s a little catch – not all email providers offer 2FA protection. So before you sign up, check what all 2FA securities are available? Avoid two-factor authentication through SMS as it is a less secure method.

3. Links In Email Or Texts? Think Before You Click

Every day we get a number of emails or texts that contains links, some offering deals or some kind of feedback forms. The question here is how many of us think before clicking on it? The phishers are always looking to attack and breach our data. One of the techniques they use is sending links via emails or texts. This is legitimate but one click will allow them to steal the information that is very important to us. What one can do to keep the data secure is by not clicking on such links. If you are still tempted, open a new tab and visit the website of the company from which you have received the email. See if the same information matches the source.

4. Computer Or Phone, Always Use VPN

There’s no reason why you should not go anonymous on the internet when it comes to protecting personal information. VPN offers the anonymity by encrypting your internet connections. Just one click on your computer or phone and everything you do online stays protecting from your employers or advertisers. It also makes browsing experience even more convenient as there are fewer ads, less tracking and peace of mind knowing that you are secure.

5. Stay Safe, Avoid Using Public Computer Or Public Wi-Fi

We are surrounded with shops, cafe and stores offering free Wi-Fi. It’s difficult to not give into the temptation of using free internet and save the ones we have on our phone for once. Whenever you are travelling or away from home, the best way to stay secure online is by using internet only through your own mobile device or laptop with VPN turned on. In case you are wondering why we are suggesting this is because public computers are used by a lot of people who can put key loggers or other malware. Such tools secretly logs keystrokes that help cyber thieves get your account information, banking and credit card data, passwords, user names and other crucial information. If you still want to use public Wi-Fi or computer, then avoid accessing your highly personal accounts with it.

6. A Strong Antivirus Is What You Need

Don’t want to risk your private information from getting hacked? A good antivirus is what you need. It raises the bar of keeping of your data safe and secure, along with real time protection from a number of malware, ransomware and phishing attacks. REVE Antivirus is your one strop solution, offering antivirus for linux, windows, MAC, android phones and other devices.

7. Protecting Your Router Or Wi-Fi Is Essential

It is important to find out who and what is on your router, especially when you are a home user or a small business owner, as cyber criminals could be trying to hack into your system. Luckily, there’s a very simple way of keeping yourself protected while using the internet is by setting a strong Wi-Fi password and changing the admin password on your router. Set it to something that is difficult to decipher and the hacker could not crack it.

8. Keep Computer And Smartphone OS Up-To-Date

Our computers and smartphones have become smarter with time. Whenever an OS (operating system) is released, it notifies us. Now, what most of us do is that we ignore updating it. It might not look a big deal at first but what we don’t know is that our ignorance is putting our vital and personal data at stake. If you don’t want to be the one whose computer or phone got hacked, then we highly recommend you keep your computer and smartphone’s OS up-to-date.

9. Update The Apps Regularly For Security Reasons

Another thing that is never on our to-do list is updating the apps on our smartphones and computers/laptops. It’s time to reconsider this as well. Usually, a new update comes with bug fixes or includes security improvements. So the best course of action here is, if an update is available, get it right away.

10. Consider Installing A Credit Lock Down On Your Account

The last resort, if your email already got hacked is to put credit lock down on your account. It is easy, saves you from the hassle of creating a new account for time being and gives you more control over people who has access to your account. It is the most effective way to prevent financial identity theft. Credit freeze stops any access to the credit report. If you are purchasing something and that demands an outer party to go through your credit report, you can easily turn the account back on. After your buying process is complete, you can reinstate the freeze.

Conclusion

It’s always better to be safe than sorry. The easy tips mentioned above will not only keep you informed but will also protect you from cyber crime. These few extra steps towards safety might not be able to keep the spam away from your inbox but it will definitely put all those hacking attempts into the junk folder. You will have to worry less and can enjoy full online freedom when these methods are put into place. Nothing is more important than being your data safe and secure from prying attempts of hackers.