Protecting your business email

For a one-person business, the email account holds invoices, customer details and the password reset for nearly every other account. If someone gets in, they can take over all of it.

The essentials

Turn on two-factor authentication for your email, ideally with an app
Use a long password that you don't use anywhere else
Check sign-in activity every so often for logins you don't recognise
Look for mailbox rules that forward or delete emails — criminals add these
Keep a separate personal email for recovering the business account

Fake login pages

A common trick is an email saying "you have a document to view" or "your mailbox is full", with a link to a page that looks exactly like Microsoft or Google. Always check the address bar before typing your password, or go to the site yourself.

Use your own domain

An address at your own business name looks more professional than a free email account, and it lets you set up email security records that make it harder for others to pretend to be you.