How to Secure Your Email Account

Protecting your email account

Your email holds a lot of precious and private information about you and your life online. We use email to contact family, friends and colleagues, to sign up for accounts and much more. Your email is the main hub to your online browsing so it is critical that it is kept secure. We at Kids Shield have compiled our top tips to keep your account safe and protected. Cyber security is easier than we think, it just comes down to educating yourself!

#1. Keep your email address private

Only give out your email address to trusted sources and it will limit the amount of people that have knowledge of it. If you are entering your email online without thinking about where it is going then you can become a victim to scam emails like phishing attempts. Some online entities where you find yourself needing to enter an email address will share it with other sources who may not have your online safety and privacy in mind. You may find yourself receiving mass emails that you are unaware you signed up for, and you probably didn't! Always make sure to check out the website's privacy policy to keep your information safe and secure.

#2. Log out of all sessions

Whether you're using a public computer, a friend's phone, or even your home computer make sure that you log out of the session. This is to ensure that no one who shouldn’t be aren’t snooping around your private information. If you do not log out of the session then whoever accesses the computer next will be able to read your private conversations, the ability to change your password to your email account and other accounts you have linked to your email. Since your email is the hub to your online existence it holds key information, as well as access to information not directly stored in the account. You can also go into your settings to see where your account is logged in, and log out of all sessions to ensure only you have access to your email.

#3. Only login on your own devices

If possible, only use personal devices to access your email accounts. This ensures that you don’t accidentally save your login information on the computer or forget to log out of the session. You also don’t know how safe the device is and if the owner of it takes into account certain safety precautions (learn about those here!). We know this can be hard sometimes when you’re in a pinch and need access, just ensure you apply the other tips as well.

#4. Change your password as often as possible

We always stress password safety for every account you use online (read this!). So it is no different with your email, change it up. Never use the same password across accounts or even variations of the same passwords. This will make sure that your password is not available to anyone that has had it in the past and limit hackers ability to guess what your password is. Most email accounts will also log out of all sessions when the password is changed to make sure no one else is logged in.

#5. Don’t access your account on public wifi

There are many risks to using public wifi (which you can read about here!) such as the network may be unencrypted or you may not know who has access to that information. Only use networks that you know are safe, if you don’t know the strength of the security you are risking your information being stored and seen by eyes you may not want viewing your data. If you do need to access your email on a public wifi source then use a vpn blocker to encrypt your data and information!

#6. Don’t open attachments without inspection

When you receive an email with an attachment or a link, thoroughly inspect them before clicking them open. Ensure that it was sent by a trusted source as the attachment or link could be malicious. Keep an eye out for bad grammar, a sense of urgency, if it seems too good to be true or if it comes from a strange email account. You can also download the attachment (make sure not to run it) and test in a virus testing website. These attachments or links could be a phishing attempt and looking to steal your information.

We at Kids Shield hope we can help you to create the most safe and secure online experience as possible. We believe education and awareness is the key to that. To find more information and resources check out our other blog posts, social channels and sign up for our email list today!