Suddenly we receive a call from a
friend who tells us that we have sent him an email with an attachment that is a
virus, but we have not been. How is it possible? How did they get to my email
inbox?
From the National Institute of
Cybersecurity and the Internet Security Office they give us a series of
recommendations to help us protect the privacy of our email.
There are many methods for a
person to get your email address to later try to access it: because it was
published on a blog or in a forum, by forwarding chain emails, by participating
in false contests, because of a virus and so on up to a long etcetera ... If we
add to this that we use a weak password, the chances that a person can access
it increase exponentially.
Once inside, they can impersonate
our identity and send emails on our behalf, delete them, change the privacy and
security options associated with it, etc.
What Can Happen If Someone Accesses My Email?
Loss of privacy
In the first place, all the
conversations that we have had through our email account will be exposed, in
addition, the person who has fraudulently accessed it may have access to
important private documentation that you have sent or received via email such as
invoices, payroll, videos, photographs, contracts, ID, etc.
Security issues
If this email account that they
have accessed is the one that we use as an alternative recovery account or
social network logging, PayPal, Amazon, Dropbox, our website or blog, LinkedIn,
etc., the problem may be even greater, since the hacker could access these
services by publishing on your behalf, making purchases through electronic
commerce that will be billed to you and accessing private documentation that
you have saved in the cloud.
Identity fraud
In this case, the person could
carry out acts of cybercrime such as harassment through social networks to
another person, could damage our reputation by publishing harmful, misplaced or
hurtful comments on social networks, send fraudulent emails such as phishing or
malware and even put into circulation hoaxes or unwanted advertising taking
advantage of our account.
Tips to Keep Your Email Protected
Undoubtedly, email is a
magnificent communication tool and offers us a wide range of possibilities both
in the private sphere and at the work level, and precisely for this reason you
must be cautious and be aware that the loss of its control can lead to serious
problems and more of a headache.
Use a strong password where if
possible use alphanumeric, uppercase and lowercase characters. If possible,
make sure it is not the same one you use to access any other service.
Activate two-step verification to
add an extra layer of security in the authentication process as long as the
service facilitates it.
As far as possible avoid sending
information that could compromise your privacy , in case you have no other
choice when sending this documentation by email try to encrypt it or compress
the file by adding a password.
Use an updated antivirus software.
Avoid opening emails from unknown
people, delete them immediately. These emails could contain files with malware
or links to malicious pages that could compromise our privacy.
If you receive a suspicious email
from someone you know, delete it and contact this person to confirm that their
email address has not been hacked.
Make regular backup copies of
your email.
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