E-mail security is under constant threat; this is caused by the ever-widespread expansion of the internet.

Private information that is more or less important to us or the company we work for is at risk from cyberattacks, which, sometimes the result of the work of individual hackers or real companies, aim to make operating systems vulnerable to stealing information or manipulation of data for blackmail purposes.

From the most common viruses that erase all data on the hard drive, to spyware that silently watches us enter codes and passwords, this malicious software forces us to be constantly on guard and use programs that our devices continuously use monitor.

Although many antivirus software today offers complete and constantly updated protection, they are sometimes cumbersome and consume a large proportion of the resources available;

5 Tips to Secure Gmail from Cyberattacks

Check your account recovery options

The first tip to follow concerns the account recovery options. Setting it is very important, especially if a hacker manages to get the password and tries to throw us out of our account. The recovery email, recovery number and secret question will allow you to block any unwanted access and keep your data safe. To check whether we have set up at least one recovery e-mail address, 

For this follow these simple steps.

Log into your Google account and click on "Access to Google" in the "Access and security" column. 

A new window will open and you will have to scroll down until you find "File Recovery Options". 

This field contains all the information we have entered to retrieve the profile in case we forget the password or are unable to log in. 

To change or add information, just click the arrow next to each section.

Backup your Gmail Account

Backing up your Gmail account regularly is the best way to keep your Gmail account safe. In case your account is hacked or someone permanently deletes your entire mailbox. You have a backup plan to upload Gmail emails back to your account.

In order to download Gmail emails, you simply need to follow these simple steps;

1. Open takeout.google.com in your system
2. Login into your google account
3. First you need to click on deselect all
4. Then scroll down and select Gmail
5. Select the size of Zip file you want to create
6. Select delivery method
7. Click on Create Archive

Your email archive is available for download between 1 hour and 48 hours, depending on the size of the email archive.

Alternatively, you can use a professional tool to regularly back up your Gmail account such as: Advik Gmail Backup Tool. This Software will help you download Gmail email backup in your desired format like convert Gmail to PST, MSG, EML, MBOX, PDF etc.

Check the apps that log into the Google account

To access many applications (especially video games) that we use on our smartphone or computer, we use the Google account. Very often without knowing it. We can use the profile settings to find out which apps we are accessing via Google: If we discover that there are services that we have not used for a long time, it is advisable to delete them from the list. To check this, you need to enter your profile and click on "Apps Accessing Your Account". A new page will open and you need to click on Manage Applications. In the new window we have a complete overview of all the apps that log into our Google account. To delete a program, simply click on it, then click Remove Access.

Check the devices connected with the Google account

The Google profile is useful both if we use Big G services from the computer and from the smartphone. Every time we use Gmail or YouTube, the login is saved on our account. All these data can be checked through the profile settings and are also used to understand if there is any abnormal access in the last period. If among the list of devices connected to our account, we notice the presence of a smartphone that we do not know, then it means that some hacker has come into possession of our password. To check the list of devices connected to the account, just enter the Google profile, click on " Device activity and security related events " and a new page will open. All 'Recently used devices "you can control smartphones, tablets and computers connected to your Google account. If you want to delete a device, just click on it and then press" Remove ".

Enable two-factor authentication

Having a strong password is definitely the first step in protecting your account from hackers. However, so that no attacker can access your Google profile, you need to activate two-factor authentication. This way, every time we try to access our account from a new device, we also have to enter a code that Google sends us to our smartphone through the Google Authenticator app. To activate the two-step verification, we have to enter the Google account, click on Login to Google and scroll down until you hit the point "Two-step verification". When we enter the section, we have to follow all the steps suggested by Google and at the end we enable two-factor authentication.