Why real email addresses should be hidden

If your email is publicly searchable, cybercriminals will find it—and target you. This morning, we analyzed a phishing attempt directed at an individual working in the defense sector. A quick Google search of her email revealed multiple academic papers and online mentions—information that made her an ideal target. Threat actors, including Nigerian groups we’re actively tracking, commonly use Google Dorks to identify potential victims. Once they find an email, they craft highly personalized phishing emails that significantly increase their success rate compared to broad "spray-and-pray" tactics. Despite the abundance of breached data on the dark web, open-source intelligence remains a preferred method for targeting. Why? Because it enables precision attacks with higher return. Actionable advice: Search your own email or phone number on Google. If it appears, request removal where possible. Even if removal isn’t an option, awareness of high-risk exposure allows for stronger protective measures. Stay vigilant. Stay secure. #CyberSecurity #PhishingAwareness #ThreatIntelligence #EmailSecurity #OSINT #DarkWebMonitoring #InfoSec #SpearPhishing #DataPrivacy #CyberThreats #OnlineSafety

Email addresses aren’t just a contact. They’re actually potential gateways, too. Your email address opens a door to your digital life. Once you share it, you’re opening up a door - not just to communication, but to unwanted attention, clutter, phishing - or even worse. Your email address is that crucial, so treat it with the security it deserves: ✍ Use a unique email address for each service you sign up for. Add the name of the website or company to it. This way, if leaked, you are aware and can address it. ✍ Make those addresses random, long, unguessable. Every company has a info@ email address. Guess what email address receives a lot of spam? ✍ Rotate them, and invalidate any that get misused.  ✍ Keep a personal email address that you only share with family and friends. Consider using email aliasing services. They’re often free, quick to set up, and allow you to create personalized addresses on the fly. This way, you can track who’s respecting your privacy, and who isn’t. As always, stay secure my friends! #EmailAliasing #Passwords #CyberSecurity

I Have 200+ Online Account With 200+ Emails 😅 Sounds crazy! but having dedicated email address for each account can significantly improve your security posture. 🚀 How do I do that? - 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 Instead of using your primary email for every single account, I create unique, disposable email addresses (aliases) for each service. For example: • Amazon: amazon.djiere@domain.com • Netflix: netflix.ewriw@domain.com • Twitter: twitter.secj@domain.com All these aliases forward straight to my primary inbox (e.g., primary-mail@proton.com), but they keep my real email hidden and protected! BUT WHY??? • Protect Your Primary Email • Prevent Data Breaches • No More Spam Emails • Minimized Attack Surface • Test Online Services • Reduce User Tracking 💡 And guess what? Setting this up is a breeze with tools like SimpleLogin and addy.io. They make aliasing easy, safe, and totally customizable. Note: In 2022, SimpleLogin was acquired by Proton #privacy #security #email #emailsecurity

Sometimes, the smallest habits online can put us at the biggest risks. Most of us use one email address for everything from Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, to our bank apps and even shopping sites. It feels easy and convenient, but it’s also like using the same key for your house, your office, and your car. If someone makes a copy of that one key, they suddenly have access to your entire life. Think about it this way: social media accounts get hacked often. If the same email tied to your Instagram is also tied to your bank account, then a simple hack could escalate quickly. What started as a stolen account could turn into stolen money. The smarter way is to separate your digital life. Have a private email address only for your bank and sensitive accounts, don’t share it publicly. Use another email for your social media. And maybe keep a third for newsletters, apps, and online shopping. This way, even if one is compromised, the others stay protected. It’s a small change, but it builds a strong wall around your privacy. Your email is more than just a login — it’s the master key to your digital identity. Protect it like you’d protect your front door. #creativityenthusiast #localvoiceglobalimpact #Email #hack #privacy #protection

Why to use an email alias service to protect your online identity? It has been around a year ago when I decided to drastically change how I manage my online accounts. I used to have a solid setup, or so I thought. I had a dedicated email address that I used for most of my online registrations. I used strong, unique passwords with MFA everywhere. I only used this email at well known sites, no dodgy stuff. This was working well until one day I started to receive spam emails which was rarely the case before. I also noticed large number of unsuccessful login attempts to my mailbox. It was very disturbing as I was using online identify protection service, I checked Have I been pawned and few other places, nothing came up. Eventually I figured out through a paid threat intel database that my email with a password that I used long time ago, got leaked from somewhere, but I never knew where. This was the point when I decided to start using an email alias service. How does this work: - You link the alias service to your mailbox or mailboxes. - Create unique email addresses to all your online accounts. - When the platforms send you an email, it goes to the dummy address which is automatically forwarded to your real mailbox. - In case you have to reply to the email, you will reply as your dummy email not the real one. The benefits? - You never have to reveal your real address. - You can stop the forwarding any time you wish. Essentially this puts you in charge what emails you want to receive and you won't be at the mercy of your service provider's email protection capabilities. - In case a leak happens you will know exactly what the source was, because you use unique emails. You don't have to panic and start changing your passwords everywhere. Yes it's a bit tedious to change the email for all of your online accounts but your online identity will be in a much better place afterwards. Using unique passwords with MFA is essential. Combining that with unique emails will take you to the next level. #cybersecurity #infosecurity #mfa #onlinesafety

Stop exposing people’s email addresses without knowing. You have probably done it before. Or maybe it’s been done to you. One of my mentees recently sent out a group email for our upcoming The Root Access Network (T.R.A.N) Mock Interview session… and used CC. I have also seen event organisers send emails to hundreds of attendees, with everyone’s email addresses visible to everyone. No bad intention. Just a lack of awareness. Let’s fix that today. Quick throwback for the millennials 😄 Remember carbon paper between receipt books? You write once, and it duplicates underneath. That’s where “Carbon Copy” came from. But BCC is different. This is called Blind Carbon Copy. It allows you to send an email to multiple recipients without exposing their addresses to each other. Why does this matter? Because privacy is not optional. In cybersecurity, we talk about the expanded CIA model (CIANA-PS): • C – Confidentiality • I – Integrity • A – Availability • N – Non-repudiation • A – Authentication • P – Privacy • S – Safety When you expose someone’s email publicly in a mass mail, you’re compromising Privacy and Confidentiality instantly. So next time you are sending an email to people who don’t know each other… 👉 Use BCC. Have you ever been in an email thread where everyone’s address was visible, or are you already a Team BCC?

𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 5𝐱 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧 Cynthia Adanna Ugwuanyi🌿💚🌿 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. During our conversation, I shared some insights on how as individuals, we often become vulnerable and expose ourselves to cyber threats like phishing attacks and social engineering by what we share online. This includes giving out our emails and phone numbers when registering or signing up for something. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞? 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲. With cyber threats on the rise, exposing your primary email and phone number online can make you a target for phishing, spam, and other malicious activities. 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰? ◾ 85% 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 involve a human element, including phishing and credential theft (Source: Verizon 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report). ◾ 40% 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 have experienced an increase in spam or unwanted communications after their contact information was compromised (Source: Cisco 2023 Data Privacy Benchmark Study). One effective way to safeguard your personal information is by using a dummy email address and phone number for online registrations, subscriptions, and non-essential communications. By utilizing a dummy email and phone number, you can: ✅ Enhance your cybersecurity by reducing the exposure of your primary contact information. ✅ Protect your data privacy and avoid unwanted solicitations. ✅ Minimize the risk of phishing attacks that often originate from leaked contact details. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲! Set up a dummy email and phone number and start protecting your personal information. Do you use a dummy email or phone number? Share your experience and tips in the comments! 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐃𝐞𝐂𝐲𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧👨🏾💻 - Your shield against cyber threats #Cybersecurity #ThreatIntelligence #DeCyberGuardian #DataPrivacy #OnlineSafety #PhishingProtection #DigitalSecurity #Infosec #PrivacyMatters #CyberAware #CyberThreats #SecureYourData