The use of email has made it mandatory to take the necessary steps to keep your account safe from hackers. Most people assume that having an email account with a password is enough to keep them safe online but that is not true. If you employ the following tips, you are sure to keep the bad guys at bay.
-
Table of Contents Show
Unique passwords
Many people have more than one email account at the moment. If you need to keep them all safe, have a different password for each. Make sure each password is totally unique from the others. This way, if someone breaks into one account, they will not get the others with ease.
-
Use different accounts
One way to keep yourself secure is by having different accounts for different purposes. Have an email address for work, for personal reasons, and any other you can think of. This way, one hack won’t tear everything apart.
-
Phishing scams are real
Whenever you get an email requesting you for your personal information, know right away that it is a scam. Never agree to give up your details to a party you don’t know of. Even your email address is part of your personal information, and you should take only part with it when sure you know what you are doing.
-
Click links and images only when sure of them
Most people open any links and pictures that come to their email inbox without wanting to know what they have. Unless you are sure of the sender, delete the email message, and it will be thrown into the trash can. Also, you can be sure that it will be permanently removed when in the trash can.
-
Avoid links in email messages
When the email comes in, it may have various parts such as the images and links. Hackers have devised ways of disguising executable files as images. When you innocently click on the link, you have just installed malware into your email address.
-
Beware of public WiFi
Public WiFi had many risks that make them not worth it. Unless you only want to check the direction to the next Starbucks joint or want to check Google to win a bet, avoid them. Most attacks occur on public networks where an attack called the man-in-the-middle is carried out on unsuspecting victims.
-
Have antivirus and anti-malware programs
These will keep you safe from hackers who send you suspicious emails. Each time you receive something fishy, keep it in mind it could be a keylogger lurking in the mail and run the software. You never know when the program bypasses your email’s spam sieve. Better be on the safe side than living the nightmare of being hacked.
All these methods have the advantage of keeping the wrong people from accessing your account. None of these methods requires any complex knowledge like programming and others. They can this be done by anyone (and everyone) for the purposes of staying safe when using your email account.
