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Internet safety
Course: Internet safety > Unit 1
Lesson 8: Ask Google: How can I recognize online scams?What can I do to protect my account?
Learn how you can use tools such as two-step verifications, password managers, and security checkups to proactively keep your accounts secure.
To learn more about how you can keep yourself safe while on the Internet, visit: internet-safety.khanacademy.org. Created by Sal Khan.
Want to join the conversation?
- if I do 2 step verification ill be okay right?(6 votes)
- Sometimes. This is because they can still steal your email, and find the code inside your email and steal it to login. Then they would do it multiple times to make it to their, your, and my acount.(1 vote)
- What happens if you are using a password manager and thee is a data breach in the password manager?(4 votes)
- She suggested using a security check-up. What is that? Did she talk about Google security check-up or some other tool? Because Google security check-up only works with Google account and apps. 02:35(4 votes)
- Google has a security checkup tool for their accounts and services, but other major websites also have their own security checkup tools. So you would have to review this for each service that you use if they have such a tool.(1 vote)
Video transcript
- So Grace, is there anything
that I can proactively do, to protect my accounts? - Absolutely. I'm so glad you asked. We recommend that folks use something called two-step verification. Now you have a password
to log into your account. But if you are able to turn
on two-step verification, that is a second layer of authentication to verify that you are you. This is extremely helpful in the event that a password is stolen
through a phishing attempt because even if someone has
access to your password, they won't be able to
log into your account without also having your
phone, or your computer, which is far less likely. So, two-step verification can mean receiving a text message
to verify that it's you, or an email, or even a phone call. This is something we
really recommend people do, especially for things like bank accounts, or any sort of account where you have a lot of
personal information. - No, I can't tell you how
important that is, Grace. I use two-step verification
on pretty much any account that I definitely do not
want people to break into. And I have to say, over the
last four or five years, there's been a few situations
where all of a sudden, I got a text message on my phone saying, "Here's your security code." And I'm like, "Wait, I didn't
even ask for a security code." It means someone might have
compromised one of my accounts, and is trying to log in. But the two-step verification
is actually keeping them out. Because the odds that someone
got your password somehow, and has physical possession of your phone, or a computer, very, very low, unless you have some shady
people in your house, or your workplace. - That's absolutely right, Sal. And the fact that you
received that message and immediately said,
"Hey, this wasn't me." That's two step verification
working as intended. Another tool that I like to
recommend that folks use, is something called the password manager. This can help you keep
track of your passwords, and make sure that you're
using strong passwords, and updating them regularly. So you can save your
passwords in your browser. So, instead of having to keep track of 20 different passwords yourself, that tool does it for you. - No, that's really helpful. Because I think there can
be a strong temptation to put easy passwords, or
reuse the same password over and over again, to
just make it memorable. But that makes you extra vulnerable. So if you use these things, you can have super secure,
different passwords for every site. - Exactly. Unfortunately many people
do reuse the same password, or use a, not a very secure password that might be easy to guess. So we really recommend to move
over to that password manager and then you only have to
remember one password to that. Super helpful. Another tool that I
recommend people look into is something called Security Checkup. That's a place where you
can actually keep track of all your online accounts and passwords, and be notified if there is a
breach, such as a data breach, or a phishing attempt that
got access to your password. It'll help you keep track of kind of how long those passwords have been staying the same,
and remind you to update them. So, definitely check out
Security Checkup as well. - Super useful. Thanks so much, Grace. - Thank you, Sal.