Internet security and digital privacy are essential entities in the current cyberspace. These entities affect almost all the activities that we carry out using the internet. Gone are days we relied on post offices to deliver mails. Nowadays, the internet does it swiftly, and nearly every account that uses the internet requires an email address. This fact alone makes your email vulnerable to lots of internet risks and threats. In this digital era, it’s better to prevent the risks rather than deal with them. Below are tips that will help you secure your email;
Have more than one email account
As mentioned earlier, almost every internet activity requires an email account. This makes your email address a central hub for everything that you do online. As experts say, central systems suffer the most losses in case of attacks. To avoid this situation in case a risk occurs, always have separate email accounts. For instance, you can use one for social media platforms, another for business purposes and another for personal uses. In this scenario, if your social media email gets compromised, cybercriminals won’t compromise your work since the email doesn’t contain any work emails. Also, separate accounts boost your productivity as sorting your emails will be easier.
Password security
We will never stop to insist how creating a secure strong password is of utmost importance when dealing with cybersecurity. Creating unique passwords for your separate email accounts will keep you safe from most online attacks. A secure password is of at least 8 to 12 characters, the longer, the better. These characters should contain both uppercase and lower-case letters, numeric and special symbols. You can use a password manager to create, manage and store your passwords; you only have to remember the master password.
Email security software
You can also invest in email security software if you deal with highly sensitive and confidential information or your network is prone to attacks. The software will protect your email from related email threats such as phishing and other malicious activities.
Don’t be vulnerable
Always equip yourself with knowledge about what’s happening on the internet especially if it’s about emails. In a nutshell, its cyber security awareness but for emails. You should know various email threats such as phishing and spam campaigns, how to spot them and various methods by which you can prevent/mitigate and deal with them.
Avoid free public WIFI
If you have to use public WIFI, at least don’t check your emails or any sensitive information when connected. Cybercriminals can use various attack techniques such as man-in-the-middle attacks and eavesdropping to gain access to your emails, usernames, and passwords. With these details, they can further blackmail you, alter information, steal information and even propagate further attacks on your friends or work colleagues.
Always use a VPN
A Virtual Private Network will ensure your information including emails is safe from online attacks such as eavesdropping. A VPN mainly works in two ways to ensure you are safe. First, a VPN encrypts and scrambles all your data traffic and channels it through a secure tunnel. This prevents prying eyes from seeing what you are doing online even if they intercept your data. Second, a VPN assigns you a virtual IP address, and this helps you beat anyone one tracking you such as government agencies and your ISP. Besides security, a VPN can also help you gain access to blocked content.
