If strangers have access to your e-mail account, the trouble is often great. But how do you know if the account has been hacked and what can you do in an emergency?
Are you suddenly not receiving any more emails? Acquaintances receive e-mails that you identify as the sender, but which you neither wrote nor sent? Mails that you haven’t opened yet are still marked as read? All of these are surefire signs that your email account has been hacked. We tell you what actions you should take now.
The email account hack is an attack on privacy that, depending on the damage done, may well be compared to a home burglary. At first glance, the shock should be deep. Nevertheless, you should definitely try to keep calm in order to then keep the damage as low as possible with a few countermeasures.
First of all: If the “worst case” has occurred, ie you can no longer access the e-mail account at all after it was hacked, the service department of the respective e-mail provider must be contacted. This can restore the account, of course only in return for the appropriate legitimation. If this “worst case” scenario has (hopefully) not happened, it is important to proceed step by step. We’ll tell you what to do.
Also read: 6 tips on how to finally get rid of annoying spam emails
Email account hacked? This is to be done now
1. Virus scan
If the account has been hacked, there may be a great temptation to first assign a new password in order to be able to read important, perhaps urgently awaited, e-mails in a timely manner. However, you should not do this under any circumstances, as otherwise there is a risk that the attacker will immediately get the new password. The first step is therefore a scan of the computer with virus protection software. Be sure to choose a “deep cleaning” that recognizes any type of infection and renders it harmless. Only when you can be sure that the device is free of Trojans, spyware, keyloggers, etc., is it the turn to assign a new password.
2. Change password
The new password for your e-mail account should be more secure than the one that was hacked and have as different characteristics as possible. An obvious, short term like “email account” or a combination of numbers and words like “123Email” is therefore out of the question. Rather, the longer the password, the more secure it is.
With small reminders, such as a question to which only you know the answer, it is easier to remember even more complicated passwords. As a precaution, you should also write down the password, but under no circumstances keep this note in the immediate vicinity of the computer. After all, you wouldn’t think of carrying your bank account PIN around with you in your wallet along with your debit card. By the way: If your e-mail account has been hacked on a number of occasions, it can make sense to think about moving, i.e. changing your provider.
3. All other online accounts
Unfortunately, changing the password for your e-mail account alone is not enough. As a rule, the attacker is less interested in the content of emails than in personal data, especially those that users use to regulate their financial transactions. This means that you must also change the passwords of all your other online accounts. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the bank, credit card, Netflix or “just” the gym account.
Needless to say, it should always be an original password, i.e. a different password for each account. Use users for all online accounts, such as B. bank, online department stores, social media etc. one and the same password, the attacker falls into the lap of the complete data as soon as he has hacked only the e-mail account. In short: Each account needs its own individual password. It makes sense to set up a password manager once, which manages all passwords. Users themselves then only have to remember the manager’s password.
4. Inform contacts
If the e-mail account has been hacked, those affected should also inform their family, friends, professional contacts, etc. as a precaution. Ask your contacts not to download any more attachments that came from your account, let alone open them. Otherwise, there is a risk that your contacts’ accounts will also be infected with malware.
Also Read: The Importance of CC and BCC in Emails
5. New Security Questions
To be absolutely sure that you close all possible entry points for the hacker, you should also change your security questions. The same applies here as with the password: the more individual, the better. A security question about the favorite food, to which the answer is “pizza”, “steak” or “lasagna” is not too much of a challenge for a hacker.
6. Security all round
Since the vast majority of users today not only use a computer, but also have other devices in use, such as notebooks, tablets, smartphones and smartwatches, which are usually all networked with one another, it is advisable to subject these devices to an intensive virus scan as well.
7. Prevention is better than aftercare
In order to prevent the e-mail account from being hacked (again), users should heed some advice for the future. Avoid clicking on links that come from unknown sources. Regardless of whether these links were sent by e-mail or SMS or reached you via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc., the following always applies: do not open! It also goes without saying that personal data should never be passed on to unknown sources.
And last but not least, you should bear in mind that the enormous mobility of our society can also be a source of danger, since many people spend more time on their laptops or smartphones than on their home computers. Often one then uses a public WLAN network, for example that of a café or a hotel. It is therefore advisable to secure the mobile devices with software designed for this purpose.