How To Protect Your Google Mail Account

Introduction

Email is one of the most used communication tools. Unfortunately, we don’t realize how vulnerable it can be. Email messages are not encrypted by default, making them susceptible to interception and manipulation by third parties.

We should make sure that our email services are protected to prevent this from happening. This includes the devices where we send or receive emails and the providers themselves, as they often have data on us that we want to keep private, like credit card numbers and passwords.

For example, Gmail is one of the most popular email services globally. It has over 1 billion active users, and it is used by more than 2/3 of all people with a Gmail account, so it’s important to know how to protect your account.

Five Simple Tips to Protect Your Google Mail Account

Here are five ways you can protect your Google Mail account.

1. Use a Unique and Strong Password

A strong password is a key to your email account. If you have a weak password, hackers can easily break into your account and use it for their purposes, like sending spam emails from your account or sending out sensitive information.

Since passwords are the first line of defense for protecting your email account, a strong password includes numbers, capital and lowercase letters, symbols, and punctuation.

2. Make Use Of Your Spam Folder

It is essential to use your spam folder to protect your google email account. It is a common misconception that the spam folder is an area where all the spam emails are sent. This is not true, and some of the legitimate emails may also be sent to this folder.

The spam filter in Gmail scans for keywords and phrases in the message body and subject line, which spammers often use. If it finds any of these words or phrases, it will send the email to your spam folder.

3. Use the Block

It is important to use the block feature to protect your google email account from spam, phishing, and other malicious attacks. If you want to ensure that your email account is safe, you should always look for suspicious emails.

Google has a “block” feature, which helps users filter out spam and phishing emails from their inboxes. When you add someone to your block list, they will no longer be able to contact you through Gmail. You can find the block feature by going into settings in your Gmail account and clicking on “Filters and Blocklist” under the general tab.

4. Be Aware of Phishing Emails

Phishing is one of the most effective ways to steal your personal information. It’s a type of scam where someone tries to trick you into sharing your password, credit card number, or other sensitive information by pretending to be from an organization you know.

Phishing scams are becoming more and more sophisticated. In some cases, phishers will send emails that seem like they’re coming from a company you trust, but they’re not. Instead, they might ask for your password or tell you that there was a problem with your account and that you need to click on a link in the email to fix it.

It can be hard to tell if an email is real, so it’s important to be aware of phishing scams. It’s a little more than knowing how to hyperlink in Gmail. You have to look out for signs like grammar and spelling mistakes, and the email and business don’t match as well as other factors.

5. Use Your Security Settings

Google has made it easy for us to set the security settings for our email accounts. However, we must take the time to set these up correctly so that we are not vulnerable to hackers and other malicious people.

Setting up your Google email account is easy, but you must take the time to review your security settings. You’ll want to make sure that you’re protecting yourself against hackers and other malicious individuals.

One of the most important security settings you should dial in is your Google 2-Step Verification setup. Using a second layer login step is a massive security leap. We recommend Google Authenticator over phone authentication but use either.

The Bottom Line

A little knowledge and security best practices go a long way when it comes to email security. Google Mail is arguably one of the best email services but they aren’t immune to threats.

When it comes to knowledge, that’s about recognizing threats as they present themselves. Knowing what a phishing email is and knowing how to detect one is critical.

Now when it comes to security best practices, using your security settings, taking advantage of the block feature, utilizing your spam folder, and most of all, dialing in a strong password is absolute.

All in all, a little security always goes a long way, but the more the better. Up your game right now by visiting Google’s security checkup and immediately set up 2-FA. That’s a start.

Stay safe out there fellow e-mailers! ?