GOOGLE: Keeping your data secure

Happy Republic Day! How independent are we today and how much or republic India is? Today morning, as I woke up, I got a bad news. The Gmail account of my cousin has been compromised. He could not login today morning and could not recover the password. He received calls from his friends enquiring why he has changed his Orkut profile. He was surprised. Then he checked through others’ IDs and found that someone has taken over his Orkut account, changed the profile picture and profile information and name. No wonder the new information was vulgar and abusive. He was terrorized and so were we, upon learning the incident.

I’m not sure if this is what China is doing and the big chaos people around the world are talking about. I just wanted to tell and warn my blogger friends and my readers. The following information is from Google Website. Please read through and beware! Wish you all the best.

And again, Happy Republic Day!

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You may have heard that we recently detected an attack on Google's systems. We take account security very seriously, and we regularly provide our users with tips to help protect their Google account and their computer. To reduce the risk of becoming a victim of cyber attack, we recommend following these steps:

1. Check for viruses and malware. Run a scan on your computer with trusted anti-virus software. If the scan detects any suspicious programs or applications, remove them immediately. Read more
2. Change your password at least twice a year. Make sure you choose a password that contains a combination of numbers, characters, and case-sensitive letters to strengthen the security of your account. Read more.
3. Perform regular operating system and browser updates. Whether you use Windows or Mac OS, we recommend enabling your automatic update setting, and updating when you get a notification. To check for browser updates in Internet Explorer, select the Tools tab and click Windows Update. In Firefox, just click the Help tab and select Check for Updates. Note that Google Chrome automatically updates to a newer version when one is released.
4. Never use your Google Account password on another website. If this website is compromised and your password is discovered, someone could try to sign in to your Google Account with the same information.
5. Protect your password. Never enter your password after following a link in an email from an untrusted site. Always go directly to mail.google.com or https://www.google.com/accounts/Login. Also, never send your password via email. Google will never email you to ask for your password or other sensitive information.

If you use Gmail:

• Update your secondary email address and your security question. This will help you recover your account if you ever lose access to it. Make sure that you have access to the email address listed as your secondary, and the answer to your security question is easy for you to remember, but hard for others to guess. Learn more
• Use a secure connection when signing in. In your Gmail settings, select 'Always use HTTPS.' This setting protects your information from being stolen when you're signing in to Gmail on a public wireless network, like at a cafe or hotel. Read more
  

You should also be sure to:

• Never tell anyone your password; if you do tell someone, change it as soon as possible.
• Use a strong password, and don't write it down or send it via email.
• Run scans and change your password immediately after noticing any changes in your account that you didn't initiate.
• Always sign out of your account when you're using public computers. Just click Sign out at the top right corner of the screen when you're done using your Google Account.
• Clear forms, passwords, cache, and cookies in your browser on a regular basis, especially on a public computer.