Rediffmail: Two Factor Authentication (TFA, 2FA), Secure Password (SP), POP/SMTP Access Feature.

If you are using rediffmail.com account then this is a must read article for you.

Recently rediff.com, the rediffmail.com email service provider released some new Security features to better safeguard your email accounts.
As we all know, in today's world of internet many illegal, illegitimate activities corresponding to hacking, spamming and similar unauthorized attempts are prevalent.
It might and possibly be true that your email account is used by someone who is not authorized and you are totally unaware of it. This is serious. Not only because your data(photos, important details, activities, etc) is in wrong hands but also the fact that such unauthorized access might land you in ocean of trouble.
If your email password gets revealed to outsiders you might be a victim of ransom and blackmailing. 
How the password gets revealed to others is little beyond the scope of this article. But for example, if your password in not strong enough and contain few characters then there is a well known and popular Dictionary-Attack method via which hackers can get hold of your password.
Therefore, its of paramount importance that you take all possible actions from security perspective which are available to you in order to safeguard your email account.
Simple and conscious efforts in safeguarding your own account will help you in long way.
So let us start using the security offering available to us. 
I will describe some security offerings as provided by rediff.com.
So here we go....

1. Two Factor Authentication (TFA or 2FA).
- This is a security feature via which you can further strengthen the login process which happens when you try to login into WebMail.
- 2FA is for WebMail login process only.
- In 2FA, you get a OTP (one time password) on your mobile number which you have registered with your email account. So, registering your mobile number is mandatory in order to use 2FA. Registering of mobile number can be done via WebMail by visiting:
[Settings]->[Account Info]->[Profile Details].
- When you try to login/authenticate into WebMail by entering username and password, you get an OTP which you need to enter when asked in order to complete the authentication/login process.
- In this manner, even if your password gets hacked your account is still safe since OTP will be received only on your mobile. Therefore, you should CONSCIOUSLY see to that you receive an OTP on your mobile.
- Also, you should regularly check the mobile number registered in your email account and updated it in case you change your mobile number.
- So, when you opt/enable 2FA there are 2 factors/parameters/data which are used in authenticating your account:
{username password combination} and {OTP}. 
Hence the name "Two Factor Authentication".

2. Secure Password (SP).
- This is a security feature which can help you in case you use POP and SMTP.
- You might be already knowing that you need to provide password in your POP/SMTP MailClients for the purpose of authentication.
- The password which you provide in POP/SMTP is a regular password which you also use in login/authenticating yourself when you use WebMail.
- This regular password is set by you in the sense that you decide the length and characters of password. So, chances are high that the password is easy to remember since you need to remember and use it frequently. Point to be noted
here is regular password are somewhat easy, simple, well known and somewhat predictable.
- On the contrary, SecurePassword is a system generated password whose length and characters are randomly chosen. Such SecurePassword are difficult to remember and their characteristic (long length and random character) make it hard to predict or generate by unauthorized person or for that matter automated systems.
- If such SecurePassword is used then chances of your password getting hacked/revealed is reduced considerably. Yes, chances are reduced but NOT ELIMINATED.
- Also, you don't need to remember such SecurePassword since once you enter them in your POP/SMTP MailClient then the MailClient itself remembers them and henceforth MailClient does authentication on your behalf. Now, here is one VERY IMPORTANT point to be considered. MailClient remembers your password. What if MailClient is faulty/ broken or hacked? What if the system on which your MailClient is running is faulty/ broken or hacked? In such scenarios chances of password (regular or even SecurePassword) getting revealed increases. Therefore, I mentioned that using SecurePassword will reduce the chances of illegitimate activity but not eliminate them. Therefore, its recommended to safeguard not only email account but also the MailClient and systems on which your MailClients are running. Not installing unknown mobile app/ softwares, avoid visiting suspicious websites, taking precaution while opening an email, etc are some handy methods for safeguarding systems and MailClients. 
- Its highly recommended that if you use POP/SMTP then use SecurePassword for POP/SMTP authentication.
- SecurePassword is ONLY for POP/SMTP authentication. If you opt SecurePassword then your WebMail login/authentication will continue with your regular password.

3. POP/SMTP Access.
- Using this feature you can completely disable access of both POP and SMTP.
- So if you are not using POP and SMTP then why keep it accessible? Disable it. SECURE it.
- Once you decide to use POP/SMTP then, you can always enable it back.
- You might be surprised to know that POP/SMTP are the most preferred channels used by hackers to predict your password, read your mails and do spamming activity using your email-id.

All the above 3 Security features can be opted/applied/used from:
[Settings]->[Account Info] as shown in below image.

Conclusion:-
1. Opt Two Factor Authentication for login into WebMail.
2. Use/generate Secure Password for POP and SMTP.
3. Secure your POP/SMTP MailClients and systems (laptops, mobiles, pc, etc).
4. Disable POP/SMTP if you are not using them.


tags: how to secure rediffmail account