Email is essential to the day-to-day operations of every modern business in 2016. Following these 5 Email Security Tips will help your organization leverage this tool to its maximum potential.
- Register a Domain and create your own email accounts using that domain. This is one of the best things you can do to communicate to your clients that you are a professional entity who takes their business and the security of their personal information seriously. For exampl, if you’re looking to invest thousands of dollars in a service or product from the Acme Widget Company, would you trust handing money over to someone using the email MrSmith@acmewidgets.com or HabsFan69_1981@hotmail.com? It may seem like a minor thing, but making this simple switch can mean the difference between securing a sale or negotiating a contract with a potential business partner. Looking to register a domain? We recommend a Canadian-based company called Websavershosting.ca.
- Use a complex password! We can’t stress this enough. It’s unbelievable how many people out there use common words, or even easy number sequences to “secure” their email accounts. Passwords like “password”, “ninja”, or “123456” may be easy to remember, but that makes them easy to hack as well. Always incorporate both upper and lowercase letters, numbers, even symbols ($%&^_) into your passwords, and use a minimum of 8 characters. And definitely DO NOT use the same password everywhere. If just one of your accounts is compromised, you can bet they’ll try the same password elsewhere.
- Avoid posting your email online. Whether it’s on your own website, on social media, or through instant messaging – just don’t do it. Your email will be inundated with spam and possibly abuse by people who really shouldn’t have access to your email, unless you give it to them. Try doing things like writing it out differently to deter bots and other malicious pieces of software from adding your email to spam lists, like this peter [at] abenaki.com instead of writing it out normally with the @.
- Never click links found in emails from people you don’t know. NEVER. This can literally ruin your day. There are still plenty of not-so-nice people out there on the World Wide Web who want nothing more than to infect your computer with all sorts of nasty viruses and steal your personal information. Just err on the side of caution and don’t click it. If someone really wants to give you important information they’d put it in the email or phone you.
- Invest in Anti-Virus software. The staff at Abenaki use a product called ESET (we are not affiliated, nor do we get any commission from them), but there are loads of others out there. Read reviews, read more reviews, try out a free trial. But just make sure that it will work with your email client. Whenever I receive sketchy looking email it gets sequestered away in a little ESET folder, I get a notification that there is a suspicious piece of email, and I can delete it right away.
One last footnote, somewhat related to #1… If you handle personal information for your clients, never use web-based email, ever. If you have been trusted in your position to process an individual’s application for something like Social Assistance, or Employment, there can be sensitive information in those emails that, if obtained by a criminal, could spell disaster for that person’s privacy and perhaps even result in them having their bank accounts cleaned out and identity stolen. Why take the risk?
Cheers!
Peter