It’s been a crazy year for data breaches, with so many high profile hacks, employees should take extra precautions to not become a victim. Sony Pictures was one example of this high profile breach, with sensitive emails being leaked to the public. Once these emails are out they can have severe consequences that are hard to mend. Employees cannot only look to the enterprise to keep these sensitive emails secure, they need to take matters into their own hands as well because everyone is accountable when it comes to a data breach.
5 Steps you can take to secure your emails:
- Create a unique password of 8-12 characters in random order.
- Do not use public wifi. There are programs out there that monitor data flowing over computer network links, ands copy the data. This program goes by the names of “network sniffer”, and is used by many hackers.
- Do not open unsolicited attachments. If you do not know who the sender is do not open it, unless you want a potential virus on your hands.
- Be very wary of phishing scams. Never give out personal information over the web, no matter what the reason is. Many hackers try to get at you by stating they are having issues with one of your accounts and they need to troubleshoot the problem and need your credentials. Do not fall for these tricks.
- Create separate email accounts. Do not store all your various account information in one email. Many of us use one email account for all our online banking, social media, and other personal accounts. If your one email account gets hacked, the hacker will have access to all your other accounts.
So let’s take a lesson from 2014, and be smart in the New Year. Protect yourself with these 5 simple steps.
