The recent news stories regarding a large scale hack attacks against Gmail users has a lot of people wondering if their Gmail accounts are at risk of becoming compromised. The answer to this question depends on several factors such as the complexity of your password, how you're connecting to your account, etc.

Let's cut to the chase. Here are some steps you can take to ensure that your Gmail account is as secure as possible?

1. Create a strong password

Password complexity is a key factor for the security of any of your online accounts. In general, the longer, more complex, and more random your password is, the better. Use at least 12 to 15 characters, with at least 2 lower-case, 2 upper-case, 2 numbers, and 2 special characters (with the exception of "!","@","#", and "$"). Don't use birth dates, initials, or whole words of any kind.

2. Enable Google 2-factor authentication

In February of 2011, Google rolled out its 2-factor authentication option in an attempt to beef up account security. The enrollment process takes about 15 minutes and requires that you have access to a telephone in order to complete the process. It may seem a little cumbersome to have to enter a code in addition to your password, but they give you the option of caching the authentication for 30 days so you only have to re-verify once a month.

3. Make sure the "Always use https:" option is enabled in your Gmail settings

You should always use Gmail over a secure connection so that hackers won't have any chance to eavesdrop on your connection.

You can access this setting by clicking the gear icon in the top right corner of your Gmail account screen. The setting is located under the "General" tab.

4. Set the External Content setting to "Ask before displaying external content"

As Google explains on their site, this setting is a privacy feature because automatically displaying content could potentially let the sender of a message know that you have read it. Spammers could be alerted that your address is valid and being monitored and they could send you more spam.

Google periodically adds new security features so you should always check your Gmail settings every couple of months to see if any new security features have been added that you might want to take advantage of.