A few days ago my friend had her computer broken into while she was connected to a public Wifi at her school. She ended up with some pretty nasty viruses and the who knows what the hacker got off of her computer. Cookies stored from visiting sites, credit card information, tax information (for people who use online tax filings like turbo tax, etc.), social security number, and just about all your other information is possible for a hacker to take from you. Every year thousands and thousands of people get there identities stolen. This can put you in a very bad situation. They can max out your credit cards.. Take out loans.. And just simply ruin your credit and your
LIFE. I've taken a little time to write down some ways to help keep hackers at bay.
Most people have an anti-virus installed.. It's a normal thing when you get a new computer, or someone does some work to your computer. But if you anti-virus runs out, it's a huge problem. Without an anti-virus your computer can get infected with
Trojan viruses,
Back Door viruses and other malicious materials that are usually made by cyber criminals. These are very back for not only your computer, but your personal information as well.
- Download Only Trusted Computer Software
A lot of times, what happens is people are looking around on the internet.. Find an interesting looking file (possibly one you were looking for). And installed it only to find out it's a virus. An Anti-Virus will usually catch this mistake and delete the file; But nothing is 100% safe.. Remember that when you're out looking through random pages. I'm not trying to scare anyone; Just simply trying to protect people. Know where your file is coming from. There are also little toolbars and such (AVG security has one for instance), that scan websites before you click on them. It will tell you that the site is unsafe and not trusted. It it doesn't pick it up at the door, it will stop you from going in and say "This is not a safe site!" "Continue or Go Back?". It's a free tool and it saves a lot of questions. It will also warn you about
Phishing sites.
- Firewalls Provide Much Better Protection
Most versions of Windows and a good portion of Anti-Viruses have Firewalls that you can use. Some times using Firewalls will get on your nerves.. A simple fix for the annoyance is simply 'Telling your Firewall that *said item* is ok to be on this connection'. Some online games, like World of Warcraft for instance, usually have to be added into the 'Okay' list. A few routers now a days have Firewalls built in as well. Basically, a Firewall is a barrier to keep destructive forces away from your property.
If you have a wireless connection at home put a password on it. It's an easy and free way of making a hackers job a lot harder. Just a little random password is better than no protection.
- Try Not To Make All Your Passwords The Same
This one can be a pain remembering a hundred different passwords.. I know. But if you were listed on a hundred different websites with ONE password... If someone got a hold of that password.. They'd have access to everything. Even using three to four different passwords is better than one. You don't have to use a different one for every website you go to. Just remember, though; The more passwords you have, the harder it will be to get into different websites using your information.
Using even one of these tips is helpful. The more tips you use, the more protected your computer and personal information are.
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