Is your information safe online revolutionized

Information stored online like any other place can be vulnerable. Hence, in today’s post we shall be looking at how to ensure your information are kept safe – if you are using any of Google’s services however what you will learn here will go along way to help you stay safe if applied to your modus operandi online. Like many innovations in the world today, the internet has revolutionized the way the world operates. It has led to the development of effective communication and enabling freedom of information and expression – as we find the use of online media for expression of ideas or opinion growing – , and has boosted economic growth around the world as it were. But, alongside these blessings, the internet like any other technology has been exploited by many for bad things. Although companies with online presence and the security community are doing everything possible to stem if not eradicate this negative trend with respect to the use of the internet, the hijack of peoples email account, credit card theft, frauds and identity theft have become growing problems today. A good example can be cited using the hacking of Sony Play station’s credit card database.

It’s a fact that majority (a very high percentage) of the members of the online community are not tech savvy. Thus, criminals exploit this state to trick unsuspecting online services users to into sharing (parting indeed) with their passwords by using phishing scams or malwares. Once such passwords are got these criminals proceed to hack into other sites, to either still information or commit other crimes. Most account hijackings are not very targeted as they are designed to steal identities, send spam mails or access important financial information. However some attacks are people specific, like highly placed individuals for instance.

However for Google users the good news is that Google is continually taking steps to thwart the schemes of criminals online. With the help of Google cloud-based security and abuse detection system Google uncovered a plot by criminals to collect user passwords, likely through phishing according to Google’s security team member and Engineering Director Eric Grosse. The negative campaign according to Google originated from China, appears to have been aimed at monitoring the email content of affected users and exploiting Google Mails feature of “Forwarding and Delegation” – which allows for automatic email forwarding and granting access to your account to others. Google says those affected include hundreds of users among who are senior US government officials, Chinese political activists, military personnel, journalists etc. good news is that Google has detected and disrupted the evil campaign and affected users notified and their accounts secured.

In furtherance of its policy to protect the users of its services Google has outlined steps users can take to stay safe when using Google products online. They include the following bellow:

• Enabling the 2-step verification: Gmail, Google’s email service comes with a 2-step verification that uses a phone number supplied by a user and second password on sign-in. This feature protected many accounts from the criminal campaign stated above. See this video below on how to set up the 2-step verification on your account.
• Use a strong password: Do use a strong password different from the ones you use on any other website.
• Sign in using only appropriate sign-in prompts: Points of sign in is where these criminal elements get unsuspecting users to compromise the security of their accounts. As a matter of security, only enter your password into a proper sign-in prompt on an https://google.com domain. This is because criminals build clone pages to deceive unsuspecting internet users as it were. In fact Google will never ask you to email your password or enter it within a form that appears in an email.
• Check your mail settings for suspicious forwarding address: As a ritual you must do well to always check your email settings from time to time for suspicious mail forwarding address(es) – the tabs to look at are your forwarding and POP/IMAP or Accounts if you want to view delegated accounts.
• Red warnings: Always be on the look out for red warnings about suspicious account activities that may appear at the top of your email inbox
• Browser Settings: Review the security settings on your browser. You should consider using Google’s Chrome if you are not using it yet. It’s cool with respect to performance. Aside its initial crashes at the time of release I must confess that I now enjoy it. Get the latest and updated version.
• Search for other recommendation: It’s very important to state this; you should explore other security recommendations and videos with tips on how to ensure your safety online. This is imperative as criminals also stay abreast with knowledge when it comes to stealing your valuable information on the web

 

I believe this information is helpful. Take out time to review your security settings on Google services and on other websites today. It should be something you do often. Happy living, online. Cheers.

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