How to Protect Gmail Account from Hackers
Email privacy is one of the primary concern for all of us as , E-Mail account may contains highly confidential documents, files,reports etc. . Sometimes hackers can intrude into your Gmail account if you have left some security holes. Hacker can use your Gmail account for illegal purposes which can cause great loss to your company or in case of an individuals some times this can be a cause of termination as Emails may have companies highly confidential data. We all know Gmail is popular and is secure but be aware hackers are using latest technology and are more professionals in their work. Technology can sometimes be complicated, but you shouldn’t have to be a computer scientist or security expert to stay safe online.
8 ways to Secure Your Gmail Account :
1. 2-step verification :
2-step verificationadds an extra layer of security to your Google Account.It has been observed that many users aren’t using this method to secure your account. TechFlashed advises its user to take some time and please enable 2 step verification. It will add an extra layer of security to your Gmail account. Read :How to Enable 2-step Verification in Gmail
2. Track Account Activity(Remotely Sign out all Gmail Sessions) : One of the best way to check your Gmail account is actually hacked or not is to see your Last Account Activity.Fortunately Gmail has provided this good feature to track your own account activity. Read More : How to Sign out Gmail Remotely .
3. Check URL before login- Whenever you sign up to your Gmail account you should always check the URL which is mentioned on the top of the webpage because there are lots of tricky peoples(hackers) who can develop a duplicate or exact copy of Gmail sign up page with similar url but if you see URL of webpage carefully you can easily see that this is not the Gmail page. These pages are termed as phising screen and such kind of attacks are know as phishing atacks. So its always good to type in the URL everytime you want to login.
4. Always use HTTPS- Everytime when you login to your Gmail account in public place always enable your HTTPS. To activate this setting go to the gear icon, then select “Settings”, after that go to the General tab and select “Browser connection” there, where you will see the option “Always use HTTPS” enable that option & then finally save it. Through this whenever you log in to your Gmail account, your Gmail opens with the URL, HTTPS.
5.Choose a Strong password :
Your password is the only way which keeps your information safe, so always use a strong password and choose unique password for each email Id. You should keep a strong password which should be hard to predict. TechFlashed recommends its readers to use Special characters like “#, @,% , $ etc , You can even use shift and space buttons in passwords as well. Your password should be a combination of alphabets , numeric and special characters and always choose a password which is of more than 8 characters long.
6. Account recovery setting is up-to-date-TechFlashed recommends its users to always update their account recovery options which includes security questions,mobile number , alternate email. So always keep these options updated.
7. Avoid checking emails at Pubic Places- We need to change our habit of logging in with or social accounts in public paces, As some public places might use Keylogger program which records every account activity of your keyboard i.e. whatever you type through your keyboard including your username and password , and it will save and through this computer program, someone can hack your Gmail accountand may misuse your personal information without your awareness. So, always aware of this type of activities and never open your email Id at public places.
8.Don’t Reply to Suspicious Emails :
Never reply to mails that are suspicious and ask for your personal or confidential information, Some times these email redirect to suspicious webpage and ask you to fill a form , please do not fill the form as this info can be used for illegal use.
These are the 8 ways to secure your Gmail account from hackers or unauthorised use.If you know some other way to stay protected please do post it as a comment and we shall update this post.
Don’t forget to share this post on social networks and let your friends and family members know how they can make their Gmail more secure and protected from hackers.