3 Steps to Secure Your Gmail and the Valuable Information Contained in your Account. We aim to mitigate the risk of data loss and protect your data.

1. THREE STEPS TO SECURE GMAIL
BACKUPIFY – AUGUST 2012

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INTRODUCTION
In this three-step article we address challenges around email security including a
look at specialized Gmail settings and best practices to keep your email secure.
Giving someone keys to your email account - voluntarily or involuntarily - is
equivalent to giving them keys to commit identity theft. These days we get
everything emailed to us - receipts for purchases, credit card and bank account
statements and loan documents. It's unquestionably worth investing time to make
sure your work area is secure.
Think of your access to email in three layers: the computer you're using, the email
application itself, and your habits while online. The sum of these three layers is
your overall Gmail security level; a weakness at any point can zero out the whole
equation. We'll dissect each Gmail access layer and point out possible security
pitfalls.
PART ONE: YOUR COMPUTER
It makes sense to start with securing your computer since that's the foundation of
Gmail access. The first order of business is to check for updates to the computer's
operating system (OS) – which for most users is either Microsoft Windows or
Apple OS X.
In Microsoft Windows, click Start > All Programs > and click on Windows Update.
In the window that comes up, click the Check For Updates link (you'll need to be
online to do this). Windows Update will find and automatically select the most
important updates; all you have to do is click install and possibly restart when it's
finished.
In Mac OS X, click the Apple menu > Software Update. This will open the App
Store and display a list of available updates; click Update All to begin the process.
It's of vital importance to keep your operating system up-to-date; the OS controls
all Internet communication on your computer. Any vulnerability there will affect all
of your online interaction!

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Next let’s check if your web browser is up-to-date; this is almost as important as
the OS since the browser is the one processing all the Internet traffic, Gmail
included.
Internet Explorer: patches for Internet Explorer will automatically be applied with
Windows Update (see above).
Firefox: open Firefox and click the Firefox button at the top. Mouse over Help and
click About Firefox; it will check for updates and start the download. Click the
Apply Update button when it shows up.
Google Chrome: Click the wrench icon to the right of the address bar and then
About Google Chrome; it will automatically check for and apply updates.
Apple Safari: for OS X users, updates will be applied by using Software Update for
the OS. For Windows users, launch Apple Software Update (Start > All Programs >
and click on Apple Software Update) to begin the process.
The last step to secure your computer is to make sure anti-virus software is
installed such as Norton or McAfee. Microsoft Security Essentials is free and a
solid alternative to paid solutions for Windows users if you don't already have
anti-virus. Keep in mind this software is a last line of defense; it will deal with any
malicious software that gets through your OS and browser.
PART TWO: CHANGE GMAIL AND GOOGLE ACCOUNT SETTINGS
You can setup two-step verification on your Google Account to go beyond
simple password security. You'll have to enter not only a password but also a code
sent to your phone by Google in order to access your account. This means
someone trying to hack your Gmail account will need not only your password but
also your phone to get in. It's a no-brainer to set this up. Google has a two-step
verification walkthrough here.
Another important setting pertaining to Gmail itself is the use of a secure or SSL
connection. An SSL connection encrypts the data going out of and coming into

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your computer; this means the data is unreadable even if intercepted; it can only
be decrypted by your computer and the server on the other end.
Login to Gmail and click the gear icon on the right side of the screen; then click
Settings. The fifth category down is Browser Connection; select Always Use HTTPS.
Then scroll down and click the Save Changes button.
PART THREE: GOOD PRACTICES TO STAY SAFE
You can defeat all of the above security precautions if you get up and walk away
from your computer without locking it or at the very least, signing out of Gmail.
This is especially true of computers other than your own in public places, such as
hotels.
Tip: on public computers, make use of a web browser's privacy mode. Press Ctrl +
Shift + P to enable privacy mode in Internet Explorer and Firefox; in Google
Chrome, press Ctrl + Shift + N; in Apple Safari click the gear icon and then Private
Browsing (or in Mac OS X, choose Safari > Private Browsing). The browser won't
remember any history or passwords in private mode. Remember to close the
browser though!
The last area we’ll address concerns passwords. Even if you don't write them down
it's still possible for someone to guess your password. The solution is changing
your password often – and making it something hard to guess! Your pet's name is
not acceptable. Ideally make the password a phrase instead of a single word;
include lower and upper case letters, at least one number and a special symbol
such as an exclamation point. “1 L0ve to Re@d!” is a good example.
CONCLUSION
The tips in this article aren't once-and-done tasks - it's necessary to rinse and
repeat to keep your Gmail security at its best. Check for software updates on a

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regular basis, change your passwords, and please never get up from your
computer without signing out of Gmail or locking your computer. Letting someone
voluntarily or involuntarily have access to your email is equivalent to giving them a
license to commit identity theft!
ABOUT BACKUPIFY
Backupify is the leading provider of backup and restore solutions for SaaS
applications including Google Apps, Salesforce, Facebook, Twitter, and more.
Backupify was founded in 2008 and is based in Cambridge, MA. Backupify has over
200,000 users trusting us with more than 500 million documents, two billion email
messages and 350 terabytes of data.
WHY BACKUP CLOUD DATA?
Your data is one of the most critical assets of your business. Like any important
asset, it should be insured. While most SaaS providers, including Google and
Salesforce, offer state-of-the-art disaster recovery capabilities that protect you
from some forms of data loss, you are still at risk for data loss due to user error,
hacked accounts and third-party application bugs. To fully replicate your on-
premise backup capabilities in the cloud, you need the ability to perform granular
restores, and to retain the control that comes from having your own secure
second copy of the data in your SaaS applications.
FIND OUT MORE
If you're interested in the peace of mind you get from an automated Google Apps
or Salesforce backup solution, feel free to contact us directly at
info@backupify.com.
 Web http://www.backupify.com
 Phone 1.800.571.4984
 Twitter http://twitter.com/backupify

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© 2012 Backupify, Inc. Item: GAT-WP-EN-200110608