andihawe's blog

Here are some basic steps to protect your e-mail client from being hacked or otherwise invaded by an intruder. Keeping maintenance with your password is key!

1. Do not use the same passwords for multiple clients and purposes. For example, do not use the same password for your Windows login, your two e-mail clients and your online bank account. If someone anyone gets their hands on your credentials, they will potentially have access to EVERYTHING in an instant.

2. Change your password regularly. This isn't something many people put to practice, but modifying your password characters every month or so will greatly lower any chance of an intruder misusing your precious information.

3. Choose a password that you will always remember, simultaneously keeping its security high. Avoid obvious choices such as your date of birth merged with your partner's, or anyone else. Typically, an acceptable password should have a combination of letters, numbers and symbols, both upper case and lower case combined.

4. Do NOT share your password. As obvious as this may sound, many cases where an e-mail hack has taken place is the result of someone trusting their partner, best friend, or any other relative. Let's keep in mind that not all relationships stay strong. Should anything fail between you and an individual, change your credentials as soon as possible.

5. When setting up an e-mail account, do not take that secret question/answer for granted. Let's face it, it's likely that you will encounter a problem logging in 3 years from now, or even 10 years later. This will be your chance to easily restore or change your password; treat that secret question/answer with as much priority as the password itself.

6. Set up a secondary e-mail address you can keep for backup purposes. If you lose your primary email password and need to retrieve it, the alternate e-mail address will be used to send your information to. This way you can get your password again without any inconvenience.

7. Last , but not least, keep an eye on that "Remember me on this computer" option when typing in your credentials. Do not click randomly at every message the computer pops up. If you happen to be using a public computer, the result isn't going to be pretty.