Every so often it’s a good idea to take stock of the security situation of your accounts. The level you want to go to with each account should vary upon the importance of the account. For example, your online banking account should be one of the most secure things you have. Any account that has sensitive data should be pretty secure too. You may not be as bothered about some throwaway accounts, which is fair. One of the most underappreciated accounts though is the email account. Your email account is linked to all of your other accounts, if someone is able to gain access to it, then they can see emails about all of the accounts you have and can then initiate the forgotten password process to gain access to any of them. Your email account should be one of if not the most secure service you have.
Cloud storage services are also important as they can hold a large number of potentially very sensitive documents and files. To help make it easier to ensure that your account is secure, Dropbox offers a security check process. The check consists of four stages, checking your email, reviewing your logged-in devices and browsers, reviewing third-party apps that are linked to your Dropbox account, and increasing your password strength.
Tip: Surprisingly enabling two-factor authentication is not a part of this check unless you already have it enabled. For the best security available, we recommend you enable two-factor authentication.
How to run a security check of your Dropbox account
To perform the Dropbox security review, you need to go into your security settings. To get there sign in to the Dropbox website. Once you’re signed in, you need to click on your profile icon in the top-right corner and then click “Settings”. Switch to the “Security” settings tab, then click on the top option, labelled “Start check-up”.
In the new tab, the first task that you need to complete as part of the security check is to verify that the email address associated with your account is correct and up to date. You can use your email address to recover your account if you forget your password. If your email address is wrong, click “Update”, then add the new email address and confirm it. If your current email address is correct, click “Yes”. You won’t have to click a link in a confirmation email or anything.
In the next section, you can review your currently signed-in sessions. The list of “signed-in devices” are your sessions in official Dropbox apps, while “signed-in web browsers” specifically refers to your sessions on the Dropbox website. If any of the locations or times look suspicious, you can terminate the session by clicking the relevant “x” icon on the right-hand side. If you’re happy with the way everything stands, click “Next” to continue.
Reviewing third-party apps and updating your password
You can review third-party apps that are linked to your Dropbox account in the “linked apps” section. This could be something like Microsoft Office. If you see any suspicious or unexpected apps here, click the relevant “x” icon to unlink the app, denying it future access. Once you’re happy, click “Next” to continue.
The “Improve your password” section offers some password creation advice and then gives you the opportunity to change your password to make it stronger. To do so, enter your current password, then enter and confirm the new password you want to use. Once you’ve entered your new password, click “Save” to change your password. Alternatively, click “Not now” if you don’t want to change your password.
The security of your cloud services is important as they can have access to a lot of potentially sensitive documents and files. By following the steps in this guide, you can complete Dropbox’s “security check” to ensure the security of your account.
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