Your Gmail got hacked? There are some simple ways by which you can recover it.
According to a security survey made by Google last year, the company found out the ways by which hackers steal or decrypt passwords to break into the Gmail accounts of millions of users. The fact has come up that, in a span of one year, billions of login credentials are stolen through phishing scams, keyloggers, and third-party data breaches, of which phishing scams are the most threatening and popular.
However, hackers don’t stop here. In case password stealing doesn’t work, they’re making use of different tools to lay their hands on users’ details such as IP addresses, phone numbers, and locations. Scary, isn’t it? Although this revelation helped the company immediately secure millions of accounts from malicious eyes, Google recommends users to ensure their accounts are protected by visiting its Security Checkup page.
As the saying goes: “forewarned is forearmed.” So, it’s recommended to take precautions in the first place than to make amends later. You can take some security measures while you’re creating your Gmail account. Google offers many ways to help you prevent hacking or falling into the trap of attackers by being a little careful while setting up your new account on Gmail.
- Use two-factor authentication
- Walk through all the security checks
- Set a strong yet easy-to-remember password
- Enable HTTPs security in your browser’s Settings page
Still, hackers are getting smarter each day, there’s a chance you can fall prey to their wicked intentions. Don’t worry! The help is at hand.
What to do when your Gmail got hacked?
Google offers easy ways to recover your account when you’re locked out. Here’s how you can do it.
- Visit Google’s account recovery prompts
- Enter your email address or phone number
- On the next page, click “Try another way” below the password field
- Choose either to receive a verification code on your email (or phone number if provided any) or try answering some of the security questions like:
- When was the last time you signed in to your account?
- What was your last password?
Note: Even if you think you can’t answer these questions perfectly accurate, try to be as exact as possible because the strength of your answers will be judged by Google to let you in.
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- Once you’re logged back in, change your password immediately. To do so, head to the Sign-in and Security in your Google account. Select Signing into Google > Password
- Create a strong password consisting of alpha-numerals, symbols, and both capital and lower cases
- When done, click Change Password
You’ve worked on your password. Good! Now it’s time to ensure such attacks don’t happen again in the future. For this, it’s recommended to check for suspicious activities in your account. Open Gmail and head to the Details link in the bottom-right corner. This will bring a list of recent activities. Check all sessions individually and if found any suspicious activity; click “Sign out all other web sessions.”
In additions to that, check your ‘Inbox’ and ‘Sent’ Folders to learn which messages have been exchanged. If your Gmail got hacked, there’s a fair chance the hacker used it to spam your Gmail contacts.
Along with your Gmail account, inspect other connected accounts as well to ensure they are safe. Change the passwords for these accounts and make sure to set different passwords for all of these accounts.
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