Tech

Hackers stole your Gmail. How to secure your address in three steps

Hackers stole your Gmail. How to secure your address in three steps

Securing your Gmail account has never been easier or more important than now. Google has warned that it will close unused accounts.

Globally, Gmail accounts for approximately 30% of the market share of email clients in 2023. In the US this market share increases to 53%. With more than 1.8 billion active users and an estimated 333 billion emails sent and received every day, Gmail is also a treasure trove of valuable data that acts as a magnet for criminal hackers.

Photos, chat archives, and important passwords are stored on Google, so it's time to secure it.

There are three cost-effective steps to secure your Gmail account.

Secure your Gmail account from hackers: Step 1

A strong password is your first step toward keeping intruders out of your account. What constitutes a strong password in 2023? It's a good question that often comes with the wrong answer. A strong password can be 20 or more random characters or a group of unpublished words strung together as a phrase. It should not be easily guessable, meaning you should not use personal data, nor should it be reused across multiple accounts. A password manager (app) helps create and use unique passwords, leaving you with a single master password to memorize or store securely.

Secure your Gmail account from hackers: Step 2

Adding an authentication factor or secondary verification to the login credentials equation should be your next step in securing your Gmail account. Forbes suggests enabling 2FA for accounts as Google issues a critical security alert system for extra protection when it determines a sensitive action has been taken. This alert system will require a 2FA code to be entered before the action can be executed.

Secure your Gmail account from hackers: Step 3

Steps one and two provide you with the basics of strong Gmail security, but there are other things you should check for the best Google Account protection. The good news is that you can bring almost all of them together in a single, final step: perform the Google Account Security Check. It guides you through several steps to better security, including enhanced safe browsing, recent security activity, account recovery options. Think of it as your one-stop shop for strengthening Gmail's defenses against hackers.