Keeping Your Email Safe: 6 Things to Do Now

Cyber threats are dictating new strategic developments in cybersecurity. Organizations are undertaking massive security deployments in response to rising incident attacks. Investments in cybersecurity have skyrocketed following recent shocking statistics regarding cyber threats.

Emerging research shows that 60% of small and medium-sized enterprises that suffer a cyber-attack will shut down within six months. The average attack costs on average $200,000. A whopping 43% of all cyber-attacks target small businesses, and only about 14% of targeted enterprises are able to protect themselves.

What’s surprising is that most at-risk enterprises think their insurances will cover cyber liabilities. The truth is that cyber insurance is a whole new policy package that’s separate from your business insurance.

So, how can you keep yourself safe?

Well, email communication is one of the leading forms of digital communication. But most importantly, emails are unique identifiers for most email account logins. That means that organizations must accelerate their email protection efforts to remain safe.

So, here are some things to do to keep your email safe:

1. Use the two-factor authentication

The premise of the two-factor authentication 2FA is to combine something you have with something you know (like a password). For instance, an email account is combined with a personal smartphone device. That means that a user will require the smartphone to access their cloud-hosted email.

Another classic example is a debit card. To use a debit card, you must have the card and your pin. By initiating a two-factor authentication, you’re leveraging a two-layered blanket to protect yourself. That means you’re not putting your faith in the password alone. You aren’t putting all your eggs in one basket.

Removing all your faith from the password is a good thing when you consider the vulnerability of email accounts. For Gmail accounts, initiating a two-factor verification is as simple as clicking a button and keying in your phone number.

For Outlook and Windows Mail, it’s also a simple process. Login to your ‘security and passwords’ and select “set up a two-step verification”. By initiating this safeguard, a hacker with your email password can’t access your account unless they have access to your endpoint device. So, the two-factor authentication 2FA remains critically underpinning in keeping your email safe and secure.

2. Use strong passwords

There’s no doubt that strong and secure passwords make it hard for hackers to infiltrate users’ accounts and personal information. Despite the significance of strong passwords in user protection, most users still undermine this safeguard. Users still use easy-to-access passwords like “1111”, pets’ names, and birthdates. Hackers usually utilize software that matches and cracks account credentials and personally-identifying information like passwords, names, and birth dates. Always use a password generator. Users can combine the lower case, uppercase, special characters, and numbers to attain secure passwords.

3. Be on the look-out for phishing attempts

Phishing is one of the leading email threats. Phishing attempts are different from hacking because they involve deception. Usually, a phisher sends an email purporting to be a representative or an official from a reputable organization, government, institution, or business. These falsified emails often convey a sense of urgency, fear, and trauma.

Phishing emails may inform you that your email has been hacked or your debit card accessed by unauthorized personnel. Phishing emails may also warn you that you’ve not cleared your credit card debt, prompting you to call the hacker right away. The goal of phishing emails is to redirect users to a fake portal (or website) where users can key in their details and credit card information that’s directly conveyed to the hackers.

4. Don’t click suspicious links

Phishers send links via email, text, or phone that seem legitimate but once clicked, they allow hackers to access and steal your information. Email attachments embedded with malware are popular avenues for cyber-attacks. Instead, anytime you suspect a fake email link or attachment, do not open it. Check the sender’s domain, open a new tab, and search the sender’s email address to confirm whether it matches any authorized website. More precisely, conduct background checks on the sender’s email to verify whether it’s a legitimate email from a reputable company.

5. Use a VPN on your computer

A virtual private network VPN protects internet networks, making users anonymous. A virtual private network shields your personal information and safeguards your network, providing total anonymity. Furthermore, a VPN offers a smooth browsing experience because there are no video ads and less tracking. The browsing environment is purely virtual, meaning that unauthorized parties cannot access protected email accounts.

6. Don’t use public Wi-Fi

Turn on your mobile or computer data and tether when traveling or out of home or office. Of course, turn on your virtual private network while doing this. Public Wi-Fi in hotels and restaurants may contain keyloggers which may later prove disastrous. Keyloggers essentially collect any information you log on your endpoint devices. They convey collected details to hackers. Therefore, refrain from using public Wi-Fi networks to prevent malware attacks.

You can contact Bastionpoint to obtain email security for your personal or business needs.