This guide contains step-by-step instructions on how to protect your Google Services which include Gmail, Google+, Drive, Docs, Sheets, or Slides, among others.
The first chapter discusses how to choose a password and then includes instructions on how to change it. Next, the importance of using 2–step verification (also known as two-factor authentication) is discussed as well as instructions for setting up the 2-step verification is provided. There is really no better way to protect your accounts than to use this facility. The rest of this book concentrates on strategies to protect your account while away and other options that Google suggests.
As well as working out your passwords, hackers will try to trick you into giving them your information for other websites using emails. This is social engineering. The chapter on scams and phishing discusses the most popular of these tricks.
If you have been hacked, chapter 7 talks about what you can do to minimize the damage and how to secure your account again.
As with all books in the Simpler Guide series, there is a glossary and an index at the back so you can quickly find what you need.
For the purposes of this guide, I have made a few assumptions. The first is that you have a computer or a tablet, or at least have access to one. I have also assumed that you are familiar with using a mouse and know what the internet is. If you need detailed notes on how to use Gmail itself, I recommend my A Simpler Guide to Gmail book.
You can access the security options discussed on this guide on a phone or tablet but when setting up your security for the first time, I strongly recommend you do this on a computer for the ease of access. The reason for this is that the interface may change for different makes of phone and mobile devices, while Google has full control of how their website looks on a browser on a computer. This means the interface will remain consistent unless of course they change it for their own reasons.
This leads me to a small disclaimer at this point. Google constantly changes the services it offers. It is constantly evolving and while this book is as accurate as could be made possible at the time of publication, the security options covered by this book can and will change. Features will be added and others taken away, however, the principles will remain the same.
If you have bought this book as a Kindle book, I recommend downloading the Kindle for PC/Mac programs from Amazon (free) to view the book from your computer. You will be able to click on links and the images will be of better quality.