Tips to Protect Yourself Against Email Security Breaches
As you've heard in the news lately, there has been an increase of attacks on business email and data. Best Buy has been hit with two email security breaches in the last two months as well as Sony Online Entertainment PC games network where personal information of some 25 million customers was stolen. These recent breaches reinforce the need for greater email security standards not only for businesses, but also consumers.
Phishing has become a major email security threat to organizations. Emails are sent to employees and when embedded links are clicked on in the email, a malware program can be downloaded onto their computer. The installed malware can bypass email security and steal specific data such as email addresses, customer information, etc. Hackers utilize fake emails that are personalized and designed to appear like they originated from a trusted source. Social networking sites can provide the necessary information to create these targeted emails by utilizing the personal information listed.
Email-based threats are more sophisticated and becoming more frequent, even for the average user. One quick and simple way to take a small step to increase your email security is to change up your passwords. We are all creatures of habit and it would be much simpler to use the same password with every account. With email, online banking, social networking, coupon sites and all the various online retailers, let's face it, we can have up to 50 or more different sites that require passwords! It is extremely important your passwords are all different.
Just think if your password was compromised - how much information could a hacker steal from you? Would it be a credit card number stored by your favorite online retailer? Maybe personal information about you or your family that can easily be read from saved email? What about access to all of your contacts? Even worse would be access to your bank account. This would qualify as an email security nightmare! Not only would you need to establish a new email address and update all of your 50 plus accounts with your new information, but more importantly contact your credit card companies, sign up for crediting monitoring services, contact your bank and all of your contacts. Save yourself from this nightmare - use different passwords and change them frequently!
Although email is an easy and efficient way to communicate with others, many people do not realize that standard email messages are often transmitted in plain text over the internet without any form of encryption and is an inherently an insecure medium. As a result, anyone can intercept the emails and easily access its contents, including any attachments. Use a reliable email encryption service to ensure your messages are both stored and transmitted securely, and that only you and your recipients have the capability to decrypt your message data. There are online companies who offer the ability to send secure email without having to download or install any software for free such as the Send 2.0 edition offered by Send Technology Inc..
These issues have identified a need for standards across the internet to protect both businesses and consumers against email security breaches and phishing attacks. With the data security risks and the high costs of data attacks, there are easy and free ways to protect yourself against security breaches such as changing your passwords often and using an email encryption service to send secure emails.
Phishing has become a major email security threat to organizations. Emails are sent to employees and when embedded links are clicked on in the email, a malware program can be downloaded onto their computer. The installed malware can bypass email security and steal specific data such as email addresses, customer information, etc. Hackers utilize fake emails that are personalized and designed to appear like they originated from a trusted source. Social networking sites can provide the necessary information to create these targeted emails by utilizing the personal information listed.
Email-based threats are more sophisticated and becoming more frequent, even for the average user. One quick and simple way to take a small step to increase your email security is to change up your passwords. We are all creatures of habit and it would be much simpler to use the same password with every account. With email, online banking, social networking, coupon sites and all the various online retailers, let's face it, we can have up to 50 or more different sites that require passwords! It is extremely important your passwords are all different.
Just think if your password was compromised - how much information could a hacker steal from you? Would it be a credit card number stored by your favorite online retailer? Maybe personal information about you or your family that can easily be read from saved email? What about access to all of your contacts? Even worse would be access to your bank account. This would qualify as an email security nightmare! Not only would you need to establish a new email address and update all of your 50 plus accounts with your new information, but more importantly contact your credit card companies, sign up for crediting monitoring services, contact your bank and all of your contacts. Save yourself from this nightmare - use different passwords and change them frequently!
Although email is an easy and efficient way to communicate with others, many people do not realize that standard email messages are often transmitted in plain text over the internet without any form of encryption and is an inherently an insecure medium. As a result, anyone can intercept the emails and easily access its contents, including any attachments. Use a reliable email encryption service to ensure your messages are both stored and transmitted securely, and that only you and your recipients have the capability to decrypt your message data. There are online companies who offer the ability to send secure email without having to download or install any software for free such as the Send 2.0 edition offered by Send Technology Inc..
These issues have identified a need for standards across the internet to protect both businesses and consumers against email security breaches and phishing attacks. With the data security risks and the high costs of data attacks, there are easy and free ways to protect yourself against security breaches such as changing your passwords often and using an email encryption service to send secure emails.
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