With all the discord in the world and this uncertain economy, there are others online that are desperate to get our information and steal money or cause chaos. Though Computer Security Day is November thirty to remind us of how critical it is every day while online to take precautions, it is even more so now. Being the case, here are just a few essential tips on how to keep your computer safe from hackers and identity theft.
For starters, you need to change passwords periodically. Nevertheless, there are some people that just are too lazy or forget to do that necessary task. Changing passwords more often is a wiser idea.
Speaking of passwords, you need to put some thought in the complexity of what you decide on. A longer series of letters, numbers and symbols mixed together for your password is preferable to one that is shorter and easier to remember.
When you are filling out answers for your security questions to access your accounts, then you should not use information that you shared with others when on the internet. Providing the name of your pet is a common question. Naturally, you may think what harm is using that name. The problem about filling in your dog or cat’s name is that you also might have shared that same name while online that you may have forgot about. What I am saying is some of the answers to those questions could be ones that you innocently shared with your friends or online already. Supply a different answer and keep that information safe for later reference somewhere else can be to your benefit. Hackers are smart and do their research so a name like that could clue them and be enough to threaten your computer security.
Something else that you can to protect your computer is utilizing multifactor authentication. This can be a pain in the neck as an extra step when you’re in a hurry to just log into your account, but requiring a one-time code sent to your phone can provide that extra layer of protection in how to keep your computer safe from hackers.
Just as essential is installing anti-virus and malware software for how to keep your computer safe from hackers and keeping it updated. You also need to keep the programs that you use to run your computer updated as well for the best security.
Instead of just clicking to go to a website when searching the internet, it is always better to check if that site is secure. Try going to a website like URL Void that can help you find if the site is safe.
You also should steer clear of websites with https in the link. The reason is that regular HPPT data is not encrypted. This means that despicable third-parties can collect data between two systems and cause problems for you.
These may be things that you are doing now, but it never hurts to be reminded of them from time to time. After all, we have enough to worry about in our lives without the extra drama of dealing with computer threats from hackers.
