Computer Security Tips

#1 – It could happen to you

Never say never. The moment you connect any of your devices to the internet, you become
a potential target for hackers. Do your part to protect yourself and other by following these
tips.
#2 – Anti-virus protection
An anti-virus software will help protect your data from unauthorized software and hackers.
Purchase a well-known and trusted software such as Bitdefender, Kaspersky, and McAfee.
Keeping the virus definition and software up to date is very important. This will ensure the
anti-virus software is effective against the latest exploit.
#3 – Be cautious of suspicious phone calls and emails
A popular social engineering method of getting information from you is phishing. Phishing is
were hackers tries to trick you into giving them information such as username and password,
personal information, and financial information. Typically, phishing scams are done through
email, text, social networking, and phone call so be cautious of random and official looking
email or phone call asking about personal or financial information.
#4 – Be cautious of what you click on
Try to visit known websites while avoiding unknown websites. Unknown websites can
possibly be landing pages setup by hackers to bait users into clicking and installing a
suspicious file, which will automatically compromise your computer. If you get redirected to
an unknown website, close the browser. If an unknown website is prompting you for an
input, ignore it and close the browser.
Avoid downloading programs or files from unknown website and use caution when opening
email attachments. These programs could include additional files that could compromise
your computer the moment you install the program.
#5 – Use good passwords
Avoid using simple passwords and use as many characters as possible in your password. It is
harder for hackers or password guessing software to crack your password if it is longer.
Create long passwords that you can easily remember. A good way is using a short quote but
replacing some characters with upper case and special characters. For example, this quote
by Lebron James, “Strive for greatness.” One might take this quote and change it to
“5tiVef0r9reatne$$”.