To best secure your Google account, Tuerk recommends setting a unique, strong password. So not one that you already use to log into Facebook, Instagram or other services. “If their access data is leaked, hackers can easily log into the Google account of the user concerned,” says the expert.
He also thinks it’s a good idea to provide a phone number or alternate email address for account recovery. “Should a user ever lose access to their account, it can be restored relatively easily,” says Tuerk. Of course, this also means passing on personal data to Google.
If you prefer to keep your phone number and alternative email address to yourself, you need to know that your own security could suffer. For Tuerk, however, a good password and account recovery information is not enough to reliably protect an account.
He also advocates activating the so-called 2-factor authentication. That means protecting your own Google account with an additional factor, for example a code sent via SMS or an authentication app. “That makes logging in more complicated,” says Tuerk. “But it also makes access more difficult for potential intruders.”
