We now live in the digital world. If you check, most of all, the communication now happens through online means. However, some social media platforms are being used now for communication. However, you would agree that most of our official communication now gets done over email. Whether it is for authentication or other purposes, email is still considered one of the primary platforms. So, your email account must be kept secure at all times. But before we delve further into the topic, let us, first of all, see why it is so critical to keep your email account safe and secure.
Why is it necessary to keep your email account safe & secure?
As already explained, our email accounts serve as the very foundation of most of our official communication. Whether it is banking, shopping, or any authentication, the email account is vital on all fronts. When online frauds are on the rise, they must be secure under all circumstances.
It is worrying that hackers and scammers target hacking email accounts to gain access to sensitive information.
The risks of your email getting hacked are unprecedented, and it could lead to your bank account getting hacked and many such serious risks. Thus, you must know how to keep your email account protected under all circumstances. Wish to know How to Scan Emails for Viruses? It is an important step in keeping your email secure.
The following are effective ways to go about with the same:
Creating a Strong Password
First and foremost, to keep your email account safe and secure, you need to create a strong password that can not be easily cracked. Once this is done, then hackers will not be able to hack your email account easily. Let us see what a strong password is?
What should a strong password be like?
A good password is hard for other people to guess but easy enough that you can remember it. Everyone has their idea on what makes a complicated string of characters – some like vowels while others only use numbers and letters in different orders; however, there are specific rules when creating passwords that will keep them safer than any free or weak security system out there! The following are some tips that you can use:
- The email password you create should belong
- Turn on the two-step verification
- Cleaning your email from time to time
- Scan Emails for Viruses
- Encrypt your emails
1. The email password you create should belong
The golden rule now is that a mnemonic sentence or phrase, which includes at least three of the following four categories – letters (both uppercase and lowercase), numbers/symbols, create an original word by mixing these two elements. This way, you’ll have difficulty remembering just one part!
While some people recommend using passwords containing both English words and character substitutions (#) e-g., ERRoN#. On the other hand, some also believe there are certain complexities with this approach. It is due to its lack of flexibility for different languages. They opine that instead opt on using more straightforward methods such as adding extra and special characters after each letter to make them stand out better. Whatever it is, it should belong.
Make sure that all devices you access your email on secure
You never know who might have access to your unlocked phone or tablet. Suppose you allow anyone, even an enemy in-house employee, with the proper credentials for someone else’s device. In that case, they could steal all of their apps, including email, which means any crucial messages would be gone too!
- Always make sure devices are password protected when not being used by trusted individuals
- Store sensitive data on encrypted flash drives
2. Turn on the two-step verification
The best way to keep your email account safe is by turning on two-step verification. With this feature, not only will you need access to both of your phones for someone who has cracked the password file have it too but also an authentication app or SMS sent when logging into unknown sources from either computer location rather than just being able to sign themselves back onto their device as soon as they’re done using yours! It is a very effective way to keep your email account very safe and secure always.
3. Cleaning your email from time to time
When you send sensitive information to a client, the average person does not bother cleaning up their private email. They see deleting emails as pointless, so it’s no wonder that more than 50% receive at least 11 messages daily! Your data could be sitting out in public waiting for someone else with malicious intent who will gladly take advantage of any vulnerabilities they find.
To avoid such unwanted emails, it is a great idea to check your email’s inbox and have the unwanted emails deleted. It is all the more applicable for the promotional ones. So, to keep your email account safe and secure, you must make it a habit to delete unwanted emails from time to time.
4. Scan Emails for Viruses
Another vital step to keep your email account safe and secure is to scan emails for viruses. You must ensure that this is done from time to time. Once this is done, the viruses prevalent in your emails can be detected and deleted. It is one of the key steps you have to keep your email account completely virus-free and clean systematically.
5. Encrypt your emails
Encryption is another very effective process to keep your emails safe and secure. Encryption is an effective way to protect your messages. When you use client-side encryption, it’s like password protecting a document in Microsoft Word – only much more so because the key is all on one person’s device! It not only protects what they write but also how often others may access them without permission. It is, therefore, beneficial indeed.
Conclusion
To conclude, we can say that email is now one of the most important ways to communicate and work. Besides, plenty of sensitive information is often stored in them. Thus, having them fully protected and safe is a top priority for all email account holders. We hope that the tips provided here will enable you to keep your email account safe and secure.