Digital life · 20 min
Lock the front door of your email
Your email is the key to most of your other accounts, so a strong password and two-step sign-in there protects much of the rest.
If someone gets into your email, they can often reset the passwords on your other accounts, from shopping to banking. Securing that one account first, properly, is one of the most useful things you can do for your safety online.
The steps
Four small steps,in your own time.
Change your email password to a long one you have not used anywhere else. Three or four random words together are easier to remember and harder to guess than a short, complicated password.
Turn on two-step sign-in in the account's security settings, so a code from your phone is needed as well as the password.
Check that the recovery phone number and backup email address are up to date and belong to you.
Keep the password somewhere safe, written down at home or in a password manager, rather than reusing it.
The reason
Why it helps
Long, unique passwords are much harder to break, and two-step sign-in can stop many break-in attempts even if a password leaks. Up-to-date recovery details mean you can get back in if something goes wrong.
A gentle variation
If this feels technical, ask someone you trust to sit with you while you do it, with you doing the typing. Once the email is done, do the same for your bank and your main shopping account.
WE · TRIBE
Try itwith someone.
Do it alongside an older relative, a teenager or a friend, each on your own device. Never share your codes with each other or anyone else; a real company will not ask for them.
Try it today
Today, turn on two-step sign-in for your main email account.
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