Tips:
When it comes to passwords, choose
wisely – These days, many people have
accounts on multiple sites. With so many
passwords to remember, it can be
tempting to re-use the same password
across all your accounts. However, this
can be dangerous because if someone
figures out your password for one
service, that person could potentially
gain access to your private email,
address information, and even your
money.
Instead, use unique passwords for your
accounts, especially important accounts
like email and online banking.
Additionally, selecting a password with a
mix of numbers and letters will make it
harder for someone to guess or crack.
For more tips on choosing smart
passwords, check out this blog post.
Be mindful of phishing attempts, and
avoid getting hooked – “Phishing”
occurs when someone masquerades as
someone else in an effort to fool you
into sharing personal or other sensitive
information with them. Phishers can
masquerade as just about anyone,
including banks, email and application
providers, online merchants, online
payment services, and even
governments.
To avoid this attacks, be careful about
responding to emails that ask you for
sensitive information, like account
numbers, user names and passwords, or
other personal information such as
social security numbers. Most legitimate
businesses will never ask for this
information via email. Google doesn’t.
Here is some more information about
common phishing attacks and how to
avoid them.
Make sure you’re using a modern
browser — Newer browsers have built-
in phishing and malware protection.
Google Chrome will show you a warning
message before you visit a site that is
suspected of containing malware or
phishing. In addition, Chrome has a
feature called sandboxing, which helps
prevent malware from installing itself on
your computer or using what happens
in one browser tab to affect what
happens in another.
This adds an additional layer of
protection to your browser by
protecting against malicious web pages
that try to leave programs on your
computer, monitor your web activities,
or steal private information from your
hard drive.
Develop safe Internet browsing habits –
Once you’ve chosen a strong password,
there are many things you can do to
keep your accounts secure. Especially
when using a public computer, such as
those at libraries or Internet cafes, be
careful to sign-out of your account when
you’re finished.
Also, Gmail automatically scans every
attachment when it’s delivered to you,
and again each time you open a
message. Attachments you send are also
scanned. That said, no system is
foolproof, so if you happen to get an
email from a friend with an attachment
you didn’t expect, don’t be afraid to ask
the sender what it is before you decide
whether to open it.
Turn on extra security features in
services like Gmail — Any time you visit a
webpage, your computer needs to send
and receive information across the
Internet. HTTPS is used to encrypt data as
it is transmitted between computers on
the Internet, so look for the “https” in
the URL bar of your browser to indicate
that the connection between your
computer and Gmail’s servers is
encrypted.
We use HTTPS on the Gmail login page,
and you can choose to protect your
entire Gmail session with HTTPS as well.
HTTPS can make your mail slower, so we
let you make the choice for yourself.
Open Settings and choose “Always use
HTTPS” on the General tab if you want to
turn it on.
Written by Juliet Ehimuan

Nyce safety tips