Tips to recognise when your email account has been hacked, and steps that should be implemented to better protect your accounts


From time to time over the past few years, we have all learned about various organisations and online platforms being hacked. Some have been within the Caribbean, such as government agencies, and even local banks. Others, have been major corporations, such as Sony, Target, and Yahoo, all of which have had user account information stolen.

Over the past few days, Yahoo has revealed that the scale of the breach was far bigger than it had initially determined. Two separate attacks have been discovered. In one, around 500 million, but in the second one, which occurred well over two years ago, over 1 billion accounts were reportedly compromised.

For us in the Caribbean, it is easy to believe that our user accounts, regardless of the website or organisation, fly under the radar and do not get caught in the net of those stolen or hacked. However, with this new Yahoo revelation, and with Yahoo having around 1 billion active users, it is indeed likely that the accounts of many of its Caribbean subscribers have been affected.

On its website, Yahoo gives the following advice on how to recognise a hacked Yahoo Mail account

Your account security is very important. Use these guidelines to secure your Yahoo account if you You’re not receiving any emails.

Your Yahoo Mail is sending spam to your contacts.

Your account info or settings were changed without your knowledge.

You see logins from unexpected locations on your recent activity page.

Even if you do not believe your account has ever been hacked, it is still a good idea, and on a regular basis to review (and if possible update) the security of all of your accounts. Some of the steps you can take are as follows:

  • Have strong and unique passwords – at least 12 characters and a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols, and do not use the same password for more than one account
  • Use a passport manager – many good ones are available, some of which are free
  • Implement two-factor authentication – whenever the facility is available
  • Regularly update your software – including your antivirus/network security applications, and for other applications, install whatever new security patches and updates that are released from time to time
  • Only download apps from trusted sources
  • Do not log into your accounts on public networks
  • Recheck your privacy settings – especially on the social networks, and on other platforms that encourage you to connect your social networks .

Although it is impossible to be fully immune from hacks, being more vigilant about the security of your user accounts, and implementing the above steps, will go a long way to protecting your personal information, and increasing  the integrity of your accounts.

 

Image credit:  Pixabay

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