How To Protect Your Email From Hacking?

How Can You Ensure the Security of Personal and Corporate Email?

Email is used by people all over the world to send  personal letters or work documentation. However, not everyone considers that the confidentiality of their information may be at risk. If hackers gain access to someone’s inbox, they can penetrate any application, including online banking, social networks, or other sites.

So, how can you protect your email from being hacked?

Simple Tips for Protecting Personal Data

First of all, it’s essential to use reputable email services like Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo Mail, which have built-in user protection tools. These services offer two-factor authentication (or less commonly, multi-factor protection) with security keys.

It’s not advisable to use your primary email address when registering on websites, as this increases the risk of compromising your information's confidentiality.

Instead, consider creating multiple email accounts: one for personal correspondence with friends and family, another for work-related documents, a third for website and service registrations, and a fourth for clients and publishing promotional materials. This approach may add some complexity, but it will reduce the risk of hacking.

You should also use end-to-end encryption, especially when sending sensitive data. We strongly recommend never sharing your passwords with others. Even on a personal computer, it’s essential to always log out of your account.

Cloud Platforms and Disposable Emails

Gmail and Outlook have won billions of fans worldwide. Their use is intuitively simple and completely free. Additionally, they offer data storage on cloud platforms, which is an undeniable advantage today. This allows users to securely view and work with documents, spreadsheets, or other content from anywhere in the world, using any device.

Another way to protect personal data is by creating disposable email addresses. These addresses are made up of random combinations of letters and numbers. They can be used during website registrations, with forwarding set up to the main inbox.

The best anonymous email generator is Burner Mail, which prevents advertisers from tracking users' actions online. Similar options are available with Apple and Firefox. Simply enable the “hide my email” feature to create disposable inboxes. Interestingly, accounts on these services are deleted after 10 minutes.

When choosing a secure email service, consider ProtonMail or Lavabit. The first service is easier to set up, available in a free format with 500 MB of storage. The second requires more configuration to work with an external email client but offers a higher level of security.

Avoiding Email for Sending Sensitive Information

Not all data should be transmitted through email services. When it’s necessary to share confidential information with a specific user, it’s better to use a dedicated messaging service with encryption rather than email. This method allows you to send files, photos, documents, videos, and other content securely. 

Many popular messaging apps use end-to-end encryption. For sending relatively small amounts of data, WhatsApp is an excellent choice. If you need to transfer large files, WeTransfer Pro and SendAnywhere can help, offering password-protected sharing options for accounts.

These services are often used to share files between colleagues, friends and family.

Other Methods and Tools to Protect Email from Hacking

There is no 100% reliable way to protect personal email data. However, we recommend using a comprehensive set of measures, including:

– choosing the right server location;
– setting up a firewall;
– controlling access to your computer or smartphone;
– using encryption to prevent intercepted data from being readable;
– installing effective antivirus programs;
– using spam filters.

For enhanced security, we also recommend using corporate email on the company’s domain with the “24/7 monitoring and protection” service provided by Datami.

Internet security screens — firewalls — are specifically designed for corporate clients, combining both hardware and software tools. The former protects the entire network at once, while the latter is installed on each individual PC.

Data can be encrypted using various services. Kaspersky offers excellent capabilities for this purpose. When connecting to remote clients, always use a VPN. Users in high-risk categories should ensure protection against DDoS attacks. Spam and phishing can be avoided with a multi-layered filtering system that checks the reputation of incoming email servers.

PGP modules are designed for encryption and digital signatures, providing tools to secure browsers and email clients. Email antivirus programs, including those from Kaspersky, are also beneficial.

Email has significantly simplified modern life. Nevertheless, it can cause considerable inconvenience if not properly protected. By following Datami’s recommendations, you can ensure the security of your emails and personal information and prevent hacking attempts.