Although the first email was sent more than 50 years ago, it's still very much a big part of our day-to-day life. Considering how much trust we put in them, it's surprising to find out how fundamentally insecure this infrastructure is. Email-related fraud is on the up, and without taking basic measures you could be at risk.
If a hacker gets access to your emails, there are two big problems:
- Your emails hold a huge amount of information about you, which can be used by hackers in further cyber attacks and identity theft
- It provides a gateway for all of your other accounts to be compromised through password resets.
Getting your email security right is one of the best things we can do to stay safe online.
0 out of 3 (0%) complete, 0 ignored
| Done? | Advice | Level | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
essential | Consider using one email address for important accounts like banking, social media or official services (like benefits), and a different address for less important stuff like shopping and newsletters. This is called compartmentalising, and it will reduce the amount of damage caused by a data breach: if a website you shop on has a data breach, cyber criminals won't be able to link any details stolen to your important email account. Having a separate email account also means you can recover your email passwords more easily. | ||
essential | Do not share your primary email publicly, as mail addresses are often the starting point for most phishing attacks. | ||
essential | Use a long and unique password, enable 2FA and be careful while logging in. Your email account provides an easy entry point to all your other online accounts for an attacker. |