ACCOUNT HACK-PROOF

Have you ever clicked on links received in an email? Have you ever used the same password for all your accounts?

Have you ever used a computer other than your own personal computer to log in to your movies from a dodgy website? If you have done any of this, chances are that, unbeknownst to you, some malicious attacker would have tried to hack into your Gmail account at some point of time.

100% security does not exist. But Gmail allows you to get close. If you want to make it almost impossible for a cybercriminal or malicious attacker to hack into your Gmail account, then you need to enable 2-step verification on it. This unique feature adds an additional layer of security to your Gmail account. As the name suggests, once you enable 2-step verification in your online email account (Gmail), there will be two different security layers protecting your online email account (Gmail) . In the first step, you will need to enter your username and password as you normally would, and then in the second step you need to enter a special Verification code that is sent to your mobile phone via a text message or voice call. Only if the correct information is entered by a user in both the layers of verification is access to the Gmail account provided. This means that the only way a cybercriminal can hack your Gmail account is if he is able to get your password and also steal your mobile phone from you.

To enable 2-step verification in your online email account (Gmail), log in to your online email account(Gmail) and then click on your name in the top right corner of the screen and then on the Account link, to reveal the Accounts settings page for your account.

Click on the security option in the left column of your Account settings page. This will open up the security settings page for your account, which allows you to manage various security options related to your Gmail account. If you notice, by default the 2-step Verification feature on your Gmail account will be switched off. Simply click on the Edit button to enable it.

You need to enter the mobile phone number to which you want to Google to send the verification code. Based on your personal preference, you can choose to receive the verification code either via text message or a voice call. Now click on the Send code button so that Google can send a code to your mobile phone to verify that you have entered a correct mobile phone number.

You can choose to be asked to enter the verification code every time you log into your Gmail account from any computer. You can also choose to get Gmail to trust your current computer, so that you are asked to enter the verification code only whenever someone attempts to log in to your Gmail account from a computer other than your trusted computer.

Now click on the Confirm button to enable the 2-step verification feature on your Gmail account.

The next time, whenever you attempt to log in to your Gmail account from a trusted computer, you will be asked for username and password. However if someone else tries to log into your Gmail account from some other computer, then not only would they be asked for your username and password, but they would also be asked to enter the verification code from your mobile phone.

What happens if you have enabled the 2-step verification feature on your Gmail account and your mobile phone gets stolen or lost? How do you access your online email account (Gmail) from a trusted computer, in which case you will not be asked to enter the verification code from your mobile phone?  However, if you are travelling out of the country and get to a trusted computer, how can still access your Gmail account?

This is where Backup phone feature comes into play. It is possible for you to add a friend or family member’s number as the backup phone on your Gmail t. In case of an emergency, you can ask Gmail to send verification code to backup phone instead of to your regular phone. This feature ensures that you will still be able to access your Gmail account.

Let us imagine an even bigger emergency. You have lost your regular phone and your backup phone. Or you have lost your phone and, for some reason, you are not able to get in touch with the person who has the backup phone. How can you still access your Gmail account? This is where something known as Printable backup codes is helpful. Using this feature, you can print a bunch of backup verification codes and store them in a safe place (like your wallet). These backup codes will be the only way for you to access your Gmail account if both your regular and backup phones are misplaced.

If you are using an Android, iPhone or BlackBerry mobile phone, then you don’t even need to rely on an SMS or voice call to receive your Gmail verification code.  Instead you could install the 2-step verification mobile app on your phone and it will do the rest.

One problem that you may encounter after enabling 2-step verification is that you may not be able to access your Gmail account from web or mobile apps other than a browser (Google Talk, Outlook). The reason why these other apps no longer work is that they were not designed to have any additional space available for you to enter the verification code. In other words, they are not compatible with the 2-step verification feature. This is where application specific passwords come into picture.

Application specific passwords are special sixteen-character-long passwords that are generated for specific apps only and cannot be used elsewhere to log in to your Gmail account. Application-specific passwords do not need to be memorized by you and only need to be entered once into the app that does not support 2-step verification. You should remember to enable the Save password option in your app, so that you don’t need to generate the Application–specific password repetedly.