Even though email security is a subject matter that almost all of us know is important, far fewer of us will actually take the necessary steps to protect our email and all of the important information stored within it. This is because too many people take an “it will never happen to me” attitude.
But the truth is you can never be too careful, and mail security needs to be a top priority for you in your everyday life. Failing to secure your email can have drastic personal and financial consequences that you want to avoid at all costs.
Here are four email security tips you should know:
- Have A Strong Password
This may seem simple, but it’s amazing how much more secure your email will be if you simply use a strong password. Not only does your password need to be unique, creative, and hard to figure out, you also need to have a separate password for each of your email accounts.
In fact, one of the biggest email security mistakes you can possibly make is to create one password for each of your accounts. This is because once a hacker figures out your password, they’ll have total access to all of your other accounts as well, and there’s no telling how much data about you they would be able to collect at that point.
- Routinely Scan For Viruses
Scanning for viruses and malware is something you need to do regularly rather than sporadically. Make it a routine to scan for viruses a minimum of once a week, and each time you open an email that even seems just a little suspicious, go ahead and run a virus scanner then as well.
While this may seem excessive, it’s a good habit to get into if you want to keep your email fully free of spam and harmful viruses.
- Steer Clear Of Public Wi-Fi
As a general rule of thumb, don’t check your email when you’re on public Wi-Fi. While it may certainly be tempting and convenient to at times, the reality is that public Wi-Fi is incredibly insecure and a prime target for hackers.
- Watch Out For Phishing Scams
Phishing scams are some of the most common types of email scams out there. It’s where a hacker will send you a legitimate looking email asking for you to give your personal information (such as your credit card number) in exchange for a reward or to ‘verify your authenticity.’
Learning how to identify and avoid phishing scams is something you must learn how to do. Fortunately, you can successfully avoid phishing scams by making it a golden rule to never give up your personal information of any kind through email.
Securing Your Email
The best thing about the email security tips you have learned in this article is that they can easily be done by any ordinary person. As you can hopefully tell, you don’t have to be an internet or IT expert to successfully keep your email protected.
