Trends from the last few years have shown us that cyber attacks, data breaches, and scams are becoming progressively more mainstream. Businesses of all sizes are affected because every individual shares the potential to receive threats online. One of the most common pathways for a cyber attack is via email.
There are more than 6.69 billion email accounts across the globe, but security for one out of every four email accounts has been compromised. As email accounts are typically connected to almost every internet service, there is always the risk of losing professional and personal data.
An email account might contain photos, videos, data, banking details, contacts, invoices, itineraries, and more. All it would take is for hackers to release one phishing email, and all your details could be compromised. Because of this, it’s important to enhance the security standards for your email account.
Make Use of a Password Manager
It can be difficult for users to set individual passwords for different email accounts, social media, and other online accounts. Additionally, it is quite taxing attempting to remember every unique password when you want to sign into a specific account. Email passwords are hard to set as well as remember so most people prefer recycling the same password whenever possible.
Failing to create strong and unique passwords for each account is only increasing the chances of your email getting hacked. To prevent this from happening, you should consider a password manager, which only requires that you assign a master password that will regulate the password database for you.
Activate Antivirus Software
An antivirus is something that every hacker may shy away from so it’s critical you have your antivirus always on. You might still be relying on the best VPN in the market, but you should not take any chances with your email security.
Additionally, you should deploy a deep scan instead of a quick scan because hackers are getting more intelligent day by day to cope with the latest defense technology. Because of this, hackers may release complicated malware that might be beyond the capability of a quick scan.
Recognize Phishing Emails
There are several different types of phishing emails that might attack your email account. The hardest part about phishing emails is that even professionals fail to recognize what a phishing email looks like. Phishing emails resemble professional emails and may manipulate you into entering sensitive information.
Phishing emails might also come with an attachment that will lead you to a fraudulent website containing malware. However, there might be a few slips that might help you to recognize a phishing email.
A simple way to protect against phishing emails is to check whether the email has a mismatched URL, comes with a request for personal information, spelling and grammatical mistakes, or with some threatening messages. If you have the slightest doubt, then you should not open the email or the attached links.
Avoid Using Public Wi-Fi and Computers
Though your email passwords are hard to guess, you should not use public Wi-Fi while signing into your email account. When loading your emails, it’s important that you are using personal mobile data or tether it from your own devices.
Another scenario with the same consequences involves public computers. Experts suggest that you should not use public devices and only your protected home network to accomplish any confidential task that relates to your email account.
Install a VPN
Another method to elevate the security of your email account, protecting your personal and confidential data, is implementing a VPN. The objective of a VPN connection is to encrypt the internet connection of your network. The benefits of using a VPN include a better experience with the internet, a secure internet connection, and more.
Update Your Systems
Regardless of whether it’s a computer, smartphone, or tablet, every device should have an updated operating system. The latest operating system update should contain all the defense files to prevent a threat. The system you’re using currently should have the latest operating version installed into it, or else it might fall prey to any kind of vulnerability. Nowadays, every operating system update comes with security essentials to keep your system safe from any kind of cyber-attacks.
Declutter Your Devices
The more apps you install on your system, the more complications will arise. You might have not checked the application permissions before installing it and information may be stolen from your computer or smartphone.
You can either monitor these applications and their permissions or you can uninstall those applications that you don’t need anymore or seem suspicious. You should also do the same with your browser extensions.
The Bottom Line
Keep changing passwords for your online services, including your email account. If you are still suspicious about getting your email account hacked, put a credit freeze on your banking account. This will make sure that hackers can’t make a profit out of your account.