Is Gmail Secure? 6 Ways To Tell If It&039s Right For You

You are viewing: Is Gmail Secure? 6 Ways to Tell if it&039s Right for You At HTTLEN: Share Good Articles

is gmail secure? Let’s review the security features they have and think about how they work in the real world.

feature download: free gmail and google workspace hipaa compliance checklist (download now)

1) is gmail safe against phishing?

Hackers use “phishing” attacks to steal your data or gain control of your computer. they will send you an email with a link or attachment. if you open it, they will have access to your computer.

In our tests, Gmail is much better than Microsoft365 or Yahoo Mail at stopping spam and phishing emails. while microsoft365 has announced better spam and phishing detection, we’re very pleased with gmail’s long-term performance.

google created “the first computer program to beat a professional player at the game of go.” these “machine learning” programs are also great at detecting bad emails.

When it comes to detecting phishing, we think Gmail is the best game in town.

2) is gmail safe from detection?

hackers can listen to your web traffic. you are especially vulnerable if you use Wi-Fi in a public place like an airport or a coffee shop.

In 2014, gmail started forcing all traffic to use https. this prevents hackers from listening to your email on insecure Wi-Fi networks.

You can tell if you’re using https by looking at this padlock in your browser’s address bar:

https at:

https out:

3) is gmail secure against password guessing?

Another way attackers can use to gain access to your account is to try to guess your password. gmail keeps you safe from these attacks in three ways:

a) 2 Factor Authentication. We HIGHLY recommend you use this. When it’s turned on, you’ll need to use an app or a text message on your phone to get into your account.

gmail has done a better job of 2 factor authentication than other companies. it’s easy to use. it also only asks for your code if you’re doing something weird (like logging in from a new computer).

If you don’t have access to your app, it also allows you to get codes via text messages…

and they’ll give you some backup codes you can use if you don’t have your phone handy…

b) guess passwords. If someone tries to log into your account over and over again, Google will block them. people call this a “brute force attack”.

c) activity on this account. we love this – with the click of a button, it’s super easy to see exactly where your account is being used. you can also click a button to block other sessions.

Our hipaa-compliant customers get help setting up two-factor authentication (and everything else) correctly.

4) is gmail security easy to use?

For us, this is one of the most important security features.

You can have all the security in the world, but if it’s hard to use, people won’t use it.

gmail has done a good job of making security easy to use.

The best example is a step-by-step checklist you can follow to make sure your security is up to scratch.

covers everything from strong passwords…

to verify that you are using legitimate devices…

to make sure external applications are allowed…

and more. we make sure they are all configured correctly for our clients.

5) is gmail safe on mobile devices?

gmail has great apps that run on android or ios and make it easy to sync your email with your phone. Or, if you prefer, you can use the default mail applications.

the connection between your phone and gmail uses ssl encryption. This means that a hacker using tracking can’t see your email, even if you’re on a public Wi-Fi network.

Although the connection to gmail is secure, you need to do a few more things to make sure your mobile phone is secure:

protect it with a strong password
make sure mobile encryption is turned on (it’s default on newer mobile devices)
have a way to track your phone in case of loss or theft (how to find my lost iphone or android)

6) is gmail secure against the government?

With the news about email access warrants, many people are wondering if the government can access gmail.

The answer is yes, although this is true for all US-based email providers. uu. If the police or FBI can get a judge’s approval, they can force Google (or other email providers) to hand over the emails.

In fact, this is true in most countries.

We like the level of transparency that Google provides in this process. on their site, you can see a country-by-country chart showing enforcement requests.

While there are email providers that claim not to give law enforcement access, we do not recommend using them. Gmail has almost a billion users, and only 69,000 of them have been the subject of a court order. which means gmail is great for the 99.9999% of us who have nothing to worry about.

gmail encryption

gmail is a great tool and we generally recommend it for small and medium practices. But if you want to send protected health information (phi) by email, you need to make sure the data is encrypted. When using Gmail, about 90% of emails sent or received are already encrypted. but what about the rest?

You will need a third party tool to ensure that all emails you send are encrypted and secure. We’ve reviewed 7 of those tools and picked the best one.

baa does not mean hipaa compliance

Here’s a disclaimer many private practice influencers overlook: Signing a BAA with Google does not make your Google workspace HIPAA compliant.

seriously: google says it clearly

“customers are responsible for… ensuring that they use google services in compliance with hipaa.”

“phi is only allowed on a subset of google services.”

“these services covered by google…should be configured by your IT administrators to help ensure that phi is properly protected.”

so yes, google workspace can be hipaa compliant, but it’s not out of the box.

You need to make sure your account is secure.

our secure cloud program will make sure your google workspace account is safe and secure.