The numbers are big and they are startling. Almost 3.5 billion emails a day land in people’s inboxes. Most of these are made to look like they are from a trusted sender but that’s not the case. The hackers are smart and mostly one step ahead of the security measures put in place by various organizations and government authorities. Cybercriminals keep coming up with new and different techniques to break into your accounts. This makes it challenging for you to protect yourself but with these nine email security best practices, optimum safety is actually possible. Let’s cover these in detail.
Use encrypted connections
Always make sure that the web address you receive email from starts with HTTPS instead of HTTP. The ‘S’ there shows that a secure connection encrypts your data during transfer. This makes your data unreadable to anyone trying to intercept it during the transfer.
Talking of encryption, Gmail is the most common service used for sending and receiving emails. People across the world use both free and paid Gmail services owing to its popularity and common usage. Following safety tips on Gmail can ensure a great degree of online safety. Although the service does not offer encryption services for attachments, there are some easy ways you can do it yourself. Knowing how to send secure documents in Gmail will protect your information from falling into the hands of cybercriminals. You can encrypt Gmail attachments either with third-party tools or use password protection. Securing emails this way on this popular service will also ensure peace of mind for you.
Use strong passwords
To reduce email risk, always set unique and complex passwords for all your email accounts. Easily guessable passwords like ‘ABCD1234’ or ‘123456’ are a recipe for disaster. The password should always be a mix of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters. As an alternative, you can use auto password suggestions from popular browsers like Chrome.
Train employees
Email security is like basic education for everyone including your employees. Every new employee should be trained about common email threats like phishing scams. After regular intervals, train both new and old employees about the latest scams taking place through mails and ways to safeguard themselves. The IT team should be proactive in creating manuals for email security in the company.
Use two-factor authentication (2FA)
2FA adds an extra layer of security besides the password you use. Even if hackers are successful in cracking your password, they’ll still need a secondary code (like an OTP through SMS) to access your mail. This two-step verification, commonly known as 2FA significantly reduces email risk.
Back-up files regularly
Cyberattack is a big reality and ignoring it while thinking that you are safe from it is a bad idea. To not land in any unwanted situation and lose precious data, you should regularly back up your important emails to cloud storage. This safeguards your data in case of a cyberattack. Having a recent backup will provide you the much-needed relief in case of a successful hacking.
Keep software up-to-date
There are three major tools that keep you safe from email hacking – the computer’s operating system, email tool features, and the security software you use. All of these get regular updates. In case you have tuned off auto-updates, regularly check the system and tools for recent updates. This will close any potential gaps in your email security for business.
Be cautious of suspicious emails
If there’s an email from an unknown sender, show extra caution. If it’s even somewhat unreal to be believed in, the chances are that it is from a hacker. Phishing scams often use tactics where they pull you into clicking on malicious links or downloading virus-based attachments. You should delete the suspicious emails without opening them.
Verify links before clicking
Never click on any link within an email from an unknown sender or even if it’s from a known sender, make it a habit to hover your cursor over the link. This shows a preview of the actual destination URL. Look for the signs and see if the URL looks suspicious or different from what’s displayed in the text. If that’s the case, do not click on it and delete the email.
Use caution with attachments
Just like links, attachments from unknown senders or emails you weren’t expecting should be handled carefully. Malicious software can easily be disguised as attachments. If you’re unsure, contact the sender directly to confirm whether they sent the attachment or not.
Conclusion
Sending and receiving emails consistently is a regular practice for everyone. This is what the hackers make use of. Through phishing, spoofing, malware, and other techniques, they constantly want to get into your systems to gain access to your personal and financial information. Once they do their job, there is very little you can do about it. This is why common knowledge and basic sensitization on email security are so important. We are sure following these nine ideas will help you in protecting yourself from email scams.