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How to protect your email from being hacked and from being spammed.

Here are some simple dos and don'ts that will keep your email accounts secured from hackers.

First and foremost implement two step verification processes for all emails like Gmail, Yahoo! and Outlook. This will help you protect your account even if the password is compromised. Also while using an enterprise email service - use PGP to encrypt emails which may contain confidential information.

 Never post your email account address on social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter or make them public for everyone. Organized cyber criminal use software that harvest email addresses which are further sold to spammers online.

Instead of posting your email account on forms and websites as-it-is. You should avoid using the "@" and ".". So instead of writing my email as smit@hacker.com, I write it as smit[at]ha cker.com This is because hackers run automated scripts to gather information about particular domains which copies and text with the "@" symbol.

Never type your email with the keyboard. This will protect you from becoming prey to a key logger which takes up your password and other critical banking details. The option to be used while typing the password is - windows on-screen keyboard which you can start by pressing the window key + U button together.

As a parent, you must have joint email accounts with your kids and monitor the emails very closely as majority of the cyber crimes occur due to lack of information on the victim's side. It might also save your children from being cyber bullied by strangers.

Do not use simple passwords for your email. Always have a complex password with letters, special characters and numeric. For Example: If my password is smit I will write it as "$m17", now this is a complex password which is difficult to brake.

Always be careful while clicking on Bitly or any other URL shortened link which might come in your mailbox. The short links don't give the exact description and they might lead you to a website with malware and virus. So the best way to open a shortened link is by using the incognito window and once if appears safe, you can re-open in your normal browser.

Never have the same password for 2 or more email addresses. This is one common mistake that a lot of people do as a result of which it becomes easy for hackers to crack into multiple accounts once they get and access to one account.

You should use disposable emails to register on websites which need verification but do not have genuine certification on their website. You can use websites like guerrillamail.com and mailinator.com. This is the best way to protect your account from spammers.

Never open email attachments from unknown sources. These attachments generally contain viruses which even good antivirus can easily be bypassed with the advanced metamorphic nature of malware today.

I rest my case. Follow the above remedies to the letter and maintain safety.





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