Access by outsiders to your Google account can involve a number of significant risks to privacy and digital life. In this guide, we explain how to spot suspicious activity and how to defend yourself.
A Google account now corresponds to a real online storage space thanks to the presence of an increasing number of applications and services, available for free.
If you notice anomalous activity and you suspect that your profile has been hacked , the advice is to immediately carry out an access control through a simple procedure made available by Google.
We explain how in this guide.
The data we entrust to Google
A Google account is entrusted daily, and often in an unconscious world, with a series of data that can include photos, videos, documents, and sensitive information such as social network login credentials, email conversations, streets and places usually frequented, numbers of telephone and much more.
The continuous flow of data towards society is fueled in particular by the level of integration achieved between the desktop environment and the mobile ecosystem – the latter represented by Android – whose boundary appears more blurred every day .
Entrusting all, or almost all, of your digital life to a single service, if on the one hand it simplifies the management operations, on the other hand, it can involve disadvantages, if the access data should end up in the wrong hands.
View the list of devices linked to your Google account
The use of any online service can expose us to a series of risks among which the most mangy is, undoubtedly, the violation of the user profile . The Google account, inevitably, does not escape this possibility.
The default defense system developed by Big G still does its duty. Google sends an email alert to the user if suspicious activity is detected . This happens for example when you replace your smartphone or if you access your email from a computer other than the usual one. In the cases just mentioned , the email can be safely ignored.
The situation changes, however, when no extra activity has been carried out with your Google profile and you receive this kind of communication .
If the damage is limited to the violation only , and you have not been expelled from your account in the meantime , you can check when and how the intrusion took place . In fact, Google keeps a list of all the devices that have accessed the profile , also indicating the date, time and a series of details on the activity carried out.
How to find the devices connected to our account
The easiest way to access the list of devices linked to your account is to type google.com/devices from your browser .
Alternatively, you can go to Google Account , access the Security section and in the Your devices box, select Manage all devices.
The page will show the active devices , in chronological order based on the last access made . By entering each tab it is possible to consult a series of information such as location, date of first access, last connection to the profile, browser used and active sessions .
In the event that an unknown device is present , it is necessary to unhook it from your profile , so as to be notified if unknown persons should try to access again. To do this, just click on the context menu at the top right and select “Exit”, or enter the device tab and click on the dedicated button .
It is important that smartphones and tablets that are no longer used or that have been sold to third parties are also disconnected and those devices that show anomalous activity, for example with a browser that has never been used or with sessions at times that are not coincide with your habits .
Password and two-factor authentication
If an account violation has been ascertained , the first thing to do is to change your access password .
There are several websites available online that allow you to find a strong password and Google itself activates a password suggestion when you are registering on a website.
This procedure will clearly cause the disconnection of all devices in use, with which you will have to repeat the login procedure by entering the new password.
A higher level of security can be achieved by activating two-factor authentication (mandatory from 9 November 2021) . This will prompt the user for a second confirmation step when logging into their Google account from a new device.
You can choose between entering a code to be received via SMS to your phone number, a voice call always on your phone or a simple notification on your mobile or tablet already verified among your devices (faster option and which we recommend).
To activate the option, simply log into your account , select Security and then Two-Step Verification .
If you prefer to use an authentication app instead of messages and notifications, Google also provides its authenticator that will generate a QR code or unique codes to be entered in the second step if necessary.
The app also works when the phone is offline and is available for Android and iOS.
