Recently, we talked about cyber security for your small business. Today, we’re going to continue that discussion with e-mail security. With the wealth of information flowing through our inboxes it’s critical that we protect both our personal and business accounts. Many of these tips may seem like common sense but sometimes those are the very things that we are most likely to overlook.
Maintain separate accounts. There are a number of reasons why using different accounts for business and personal e-mails are a good idea. How often have you opened your computer or mobile device to do one thing and been distracted by something else? It’s easier to focus if you are only checking work e-mail while working and only looking at personal messages when you’re not supposed to be working. Also, if one account is compromised only some of your information is jeopardized. This can also prevent any potential autofill errors. It’s all too easy to click on the wrong e-mail address as you are rushing to type a message and you certainly don’t want to send a message intended for a friend to a business colleague.
Use unique (& complicated) passwords. Though it might be tempting to use the same password for everything - DON’T. We get it, having one password makes it easier to remember but that also means that if someone hacks one of your accounts and gets your password, now they have access to everything. Avoid using simple to guess passwords such as names, or important numbers. There are a number of services available to help you generate complex passwords and manage which site you used them for. Longer passwords with a combination of letters, numbers and special characters are more secure. The same holds true when signing up for our free online inventory tool. Use a strong password because you don't want someone logging in as you and doing damage to your stock counts.
Be careful what you click on. Don’t open attachments from unfamiliar sources. Use virus scanning software and remember if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Don’t provide personal information to any e-mail address that you don’t recognize regardless of what sort of benefit they promise. That's why we don't send updates via email from our online inventory tool. We don't want to add to the "open vs. trash" confusion that already exists.
Be Wi-Fi Wary. The easiest way for your e-mail to be compromised is when you check your messages over Wi-Fi while you’re out. A hacker running a “network sniffer” can get your personal data if you hop on public Wi-Fi. The good news is that e-mail providers are stepping up their security measures. Google recently announced that the Gmail will now only run on HTTPS which means internet data will be sent over secure sessions and will be encrypted as it moves through Google’s network.
Protecting your e-mail is a key part of your small business cyber security. Don’t risk your data by leaving it vulnerable to attack, and we'll work hard to protect your privacy within our online inventory tool as well.
