Secure your Data

Every day I here about people doing silly things on their computers so I feel I should try and help educate people on where they are going wrong. I am realistic as well so I don’t expect that I will get through to everyone but if one person reads this and this stops them from doing something silly then I will be happy. I know I here you say small minds etc but the fact is if one person learns something new they will normally tell someone else about their experiences and so on…..

Anyway here are my top tips for keeping safe on-line:

1. Watch what you download on file sharing sites. There are a vast amount of viruses which get spread through these sites and a lot of the time you won’t know until it has already infected your computer. Not to mention that the content is more than often illegally copied!
2. Download all security patch updates whether for windows or any other program.
3. Never agree to install a program unless you know where it has come from or have purposely downloaded it.
4. Protect your children by blocking web sites with unsavoury subjects. You can buy software to do this or buy a good quality ADSL router as some have these features already built in.
5. Social networking sites! – don’t post personal information about yourself that people could use to steal your identity such as date of birth, address and even photos.
6. Never disclose your username or password to anyone whoever they claim to be especially the banks as this is how crooks like to trick you into obtaining your personal details. You may have heard it being referred to as “Social Engineering”.
7. Make sure your anti-virus and anti-malware products are always up to date. It’s best to pay for one rather than using the free ones as they have more features to protect you! Also make sure you enable the scheduled scan – it’s amazing how many PC’s I see that don’t have this enabled because it slows people’s machines down!
8. Always make sure that you have a padlock on display within your browser when buying items on the internet otherwise your card details can be are not secure.
9. Ignore emails that ask you to confirm your bank details as these are generally known as “phishing” emails which only have one purpose in mind and that is to steal your personal info! No matter how convincing they are always ignore them.
10. Computers should be treated like weapons as they can be very effective at what they do but can be very dangerous without the right training. Ask friends and family if you are not sure what you are doing. Or if you have any questions post a comment and I will offer a bit of free advice.