A Complete Guide On How To Secure Gmail Account From Hackers

Email has become an integral part of our life because we can use it for many things such as communicating with any person from anywhere, sharing important documents etc. Our email contains a lot of important and confidential data which can be hacked easily if we don’t avoid doing silly mistakes. So here is a complete guide on how to secure gmail account from hackers.

A Complete Guide On How To Protect Your Gmail Account

Table of Contents

How email hacking works?

The most basic process behind email hacking can be divided into 3 steps.

Step 1: Planning

The hackers first collect information about their victim and try to get their email address.

Step 2: Attack

Now they create a phishing page and send it to their victims. The email looks like it has been sent by a trusted authority like the ecommerce site from where you last purchased something online or a social media site.

They usually ask you to complete a task by claiming that your email account was logged in from some other place or your email account has been hacked and asks you to click on a link (malicious link in disguise) to login into your account to verify it.

Step 3: Data Stealing

The page turns out to be a phishing page where the username and password which you enter is stored in the hacker’s database.

And now they have access to your email id and password and anyone can access your bank account.

How to detect Gmail hacking?

Step 1: Login into the Gmail account and click on the avatar.

Step 2: Now click on Sign-in and Security option.

Step 3: Now click on device activity & security events.

Now you will find all the info such as devices you used to login into your Gmail account and places from where you have accessed your account etc.

You can also check your password detail like when it was last changed.

Method 2:

If you receive frequent emails from e-commerce sites or any transactions being made from malls etc. for purchasing any product and if you haven’t made that purchase then that is a red flag that your Gmail account has been hacked.

Also Read: Detailed Guide to Phishing Email Prevention and Identification

How to report phishing emails in Gmail?

Method 1:

It is a very easy process. Firstly open any email and click on vertical three dots of any email.

Then select “Report Phishing” and it will tell the Google that the email you received is a phishing email.

How to report phishing email

9 Best Tips To Protect Gmail Account From Getting Hacked

1.) Install antivirus software on your computer as it will always notify you about a website or an email you open beforehand by telling you if it is malicious or not. Always keep your antivirus up-to-date.

2.) Never log into your email accounts from a cyber cafe, friends mobile phone or any other public computers as the computers might be affected by malicious programs such as keyloggers or someone could have set up a phishing page of Gmail.

3.) Always enable 2-step verification as it adds an additional layer of security to your Gmail account.

After you enter your email id and password Google sends a verification code on your registered mobile phone and since only you have access to your mobile phone it becomes harder for hackers to login into your Gmail and hence protects Gmail account.

To turn on 2-step verification-
a.) Go to the 2-Step Verification section of your Google Account.
b.) Select “Get started”.
c.) Follow the steps on the screen.

4.) Always create a strong password and include UPPERCASE, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters in it. For eg. Spooky Halloween” becomes “sPo0kyH@ll0w3En.

5.) Never ever reply to unknown emails except for Gmail asking you for your personal details such as passwords for reasons such as “someone tried to login into your email account” or “you won 1 million dollars in a lucky draw”. Also never open any links or document.

6.) Always change your password every 3-4 months and keep your security questions such that they cannot be easily guessed or researched or can be remembered.

7.) If possible make Gmail accounts for different purposes such as for social media you can have 1 while for banking you can have another email and for online shopping, you can have another account as it spreads the risk of Gmail hacking.

8.) To protect your Gmail account Minimize the use of public wi-fi as it is an easy way for hackers to snoop into someone’s mobile phone or computer and steal personal details. So always use a VPN whenever on public wi-fi.

9.) Limit apps that have access to your Gmail

Almost all the apps on Google requires us to sign up through our Gmail account and through this, we share our personal info with them.

To see all the apps which have access to our Gmail account go to Apps with access to your account.

Avoid access to your information in all the apps which you no longer use.

How To Protect Your Gmail Account

Also Read: 6 Ways To Protect Your Computer From Webcam Hacking

10.) Use Ugly Email

Ugly Email is a chrome extension which blocks email tracking pixels and other read receipts.

Whenever a tracker is detected it shows an eyeball icon in the subject line to alert you that this email consists an email tracking pixel.

It makes sure that the detected tracker is blocked and you can open the email without any worry.

How To Protect Your Gmail Account

11.) Keep recovery phone no. and email address handy

A recovery phone no. or an email address is the alternative that Google uses to send the security codes whenever you login into your Google account

It acts as a 2-step verification check before signing into your account.

Make sure that you remember the password of your recovery Gmail account.

12.) Never ignore security emails from google

Gmail’s top priority is its security of the user’s data.

So they keep sending emails to its users as to update their passwords, security questions, recovery email address or how to secure gmail account from hackers.

Make sure that you don’t ignore this alerts as this might land you into deep trouble.

How to recover hacked Gmail account?

Go to- https://accounts.google.com/signin/recovery (If the account name is unknown, select “Find my account“.)

Then you can enter your last password or enter the registered mobile number to get the verification code or enter the date of creation of Gmail account or even enter an alternate email address.

Conclusion:

Is this guide on how to secure gmail account from hackers useful? What are some other methods you know to prevent Gmail hacking? Do comment down below.

Thank You!

Prathamesh Rathod

Hi there. My name is Prathamesh Rathod and I am doing my MBA from JBIMS ’23. You can follow me on Linkedin.