8 email security tips you should know

We communicate via email on a regular basis as they  have become very popular within the last decade. You probably have an email account yourslef but you should know emails are prone to attacks. You may have received phoney emails in recent years from legtimate accounts claiming you should either send them money among other request. This is usually as a result of an email account hack. Please see h0w you can protect your email accounts below;

1. Choose a Good Password:

This is a very obvious step but there are so many people who use the simplest data from their personal lives while creating passwords, like kids’ names or their birthdays. If the password is that much simple, it’s not going to be a tough guess for someone who want to hack the basic software. Select a good password and there are several apps to manage and remember your passwords. So don’t show any more excuse further.

2. Block data leakage:

Email can become one of the most vital sources of data leakage. Leaked data includes credit card numbers, social security numbers and confidential medical information. Develop and implement a policy which helps ensure that no data is leaked. You should also use tools to look for keywords related to confidential data and find keywords which are not just embedded in the email.

3. Don’t Open Suspicious Emails:

Sometimes we go about our inboxes and open anything which is unread. If an email has no “From” name, and if the address looks little bit weird, then it’s better you delete it immediately. Sometimes there are other signs too to warn you that the email may be malicious and get you in some wrong place. You never know which link or image can infect your computer anytime.

4. Stop spam in its tracks:

Spam is a hugely disturbing thing and it can be a massive security problem too. More than three per cent of spam mail carries malware. Spam is also a huge problem when it comes to productivity. If you get five spams per day, and spend half a minute for each message, you’re going to waste 15 hours every year.

5. Don’t Open Suspicious Attachments:

Even if a legitimate email comes to you, sometimes a possibility is there that it has a malicious attachment, might be accidentally or unknowingly. If there is nothing said about the attachment or the photo, or if the filename doesn’t look good, you better don’t open it. Opening these kinds of files can very easily infect your computer and also affect those people with whom you are in contact with. Spot a dangerous email attachment and stay safe.

6. Control content via filtering and monitoring:

Data is always the most precious resource regarding financials, client info, unreleased products, strategies and so on. All of these types of data can be game changers. The only security threat doesn’t come from hackers but from inside an organisation too. With email, end users don’t even know all the time that there is a problem. Monitoring email content is very important and all problems can be solved in this way.

7. Disable Automatic Image Loading:

A hacker usually runs a malicious code on a computer by embedding it as an image file. If the email app loads the image automatically then it can possibly infect your computer. That’s why it’s very important that you disable automatic loading of images and you should manually control the option of loading images in individual emails. It will make your email account more secure.

8. Enable Two-Factor Authentication:

This final tip requires your special attention. It can make a huge difference in the security level of your email account. Add two-factor authentication to not only your email, but to as many services as possible.

Efytimes Netwrok contributed to this post