Account security
How to secure your email after a data breach
Your email account is one of the most important you own. Whoever controls it can reset passwords, intercept security codes, and reach your other accounts. If your details have been breached, secure your inbox first.
The short answer
In The Event Of is an Australian digital footprint manager that helps you find the accounts linked to your email, see your breach exposure, and get a prioritised plan of what to do after a breach or a life change.
Key takeaways
- Your email is the recovery channel for everything else, secure it first.
- A long, unique passphrase plus MFA are the two essential steps.
- Check email forwarding rules: attackers use them to keep reading your mail.
- Sign out of all sessions and review connected apps and recent activity.
- Then work outward to the other accounts that rely on this email address.
Why it matters
Why your email account matters most
Most of your other accounts use your email for password resets and security codes. That makes the inbox a master key: an attacker who controls it can work their way into your banking, shopping and social accounts. The good news is that the Australian Cyber Security Centre's email account recovery guidance gives a clear, ordered set of steps.
The checklist
Secure your email, step by step
Email security checklist
- Change your password to a long, unique passphrase, the ACSC recommends at least 15 characters made of four or more random words.
- Turn on multi-factor authentication (an authenticator app or passkey is stronger than SMS).
- Check your recovery email and phone number are accurate and under your control, attackers change these to keep a back door.
- Sign out of all other devices and sessions to remove any existing access.
- Review email forwarding rules and filters, and remove any you do not recognise.
- Remove unrecognised connected apps that have access to your mailbox.
- Check recent login activity for unfamiliar locations or devices.
- Secure the other high-risk accounts that use this email, banking and government first.
The step most people miss: forwarding rules
Step detail
Passphrase and MFA
Start with the password. ACSC guidance is that passphrases are most effective when they are long, unpredictable and unique. Then turn on multi-factor authentication, which the ACSC calls one of the most effective ways to protect an account. It means a stolen password alone is not enough to log in.
Step detail
Sessions, connected apps and recent activity
After changing the password, sign out everywhere so any existing attacker session is cut off. Then review the apps connected to your account, Google lets you see and remove third-party access, and check recent sign-ins. Microsoft's recent activity page shows where your account has been used in the last 30 days, which helps you spot unfamiliar access.
Then work outward
Secure the accounts that use this email
Once the inbox is locked down, address the accounts that depend on it. Start with the most sensitive, banking and government services, and work down. To do that efficiently you first need to know which accounts use the email: see how to find accounts linked to your email and the broader breach response guide.
Which accounts rely on this email?
In The Event Of maps the accounts tied to your email and ranks them by risk, so you know which to secure first after locking down your inbox.
Using In The Event Of
How In The Event Of helps
Securing your inbox is step one; knowing what depends on it is step two. In The Event Of discovers the accounts linked to your email, flags breach exposure, and gives you a prioritised checklist with direct links to each service's security settings, so the “secure everything else” step becomes a guided list rather than a guessing game. You make the changes; the tool tracks what is done.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Does a breached email mean my inbox was hacked?
What should I check first?
Why are email forwarding rules so important?
I changed my password but still see suspicious activity. What now?
Sources
Where this information comes from
- Australian Cyber Security Centre, Recover a compromised email account
- Australian Cyber Security Centre, Passphrases
- Australian Cyber Security Centre, Multi-factor authentication
- Google, Manage connections between your Google Account & third parties
- Microsoft, The recent activity page
- NIST SP 800-63B, Digital Identity Guidelines (passphrases and MFA)
- US CISA, Multi-factor authentication (about 99% less likely to be hacked)
Related guides
Email in a data breach
Data breaches
Best footprint tools (AU)
Tools & comparisons
Find accounts linked to your email
Digital footprint
Digital footprint checklist
Digital footprint
Password manager vs breach monitor
Tools & comparisons
What data companies store
Digital footprint
Moving house address checklist
Life admin
Disclaimer: If you cannot regain control of your email account, use your provider's official recovery process and seek help from IDCare. This guide is general information only and is not legal, financial, or security advice. It is based on publicly available sources at the time of writing and may not reflect the most recent developments. In The Event Of Pty Ltd (ABN 38 687 352 647) is an independent Australian company and is not affiliated with the third-party services named in this guide.