Five Ways to Avoid Computer Hacking
Published on 04 November 14
James0
Whether you want to avoid your computer getting hacked at home or in your business, there is a variety of methods you can use to lessen the likelihood. These range from some simple measures you can implement on your home PC or laptop, right through to high level security training.
1. Professional Training
If you want to protect your business from hacking or you have a great deal of sensitive data to protect, it may well be worth investing in professional training. Companies such as PGI offer a range of courses on cyber security, which when implemented can protect your data to a high level.
2. Clean Up Your PC
For those who want to take a direct approach, the first step is to clean up your PC. Cheeky Munkey offers a comprehensive guide to this which includes removing malware, deleting internet files and as a last resort restoring your PC to factory settings.
Removing malware is particularly important as it is through these small pieces of software that hackers can gain access to your personal information, such as online banking details and passwords for other site. Malware is a generic title for any software whose intention is to cause harm, including viruses, worms and Trojans, and it is the number one reason for computers to malfunction.
3. Protection
Many routers now have in-built firewalls which act as the first line of defence against unauthorized access of your network. An integrated firewall in your router gives you the benefit of additional security, without having to install any more hardware.
In addition, you should have anti-virus software installed on your computer, to prevent malware reaching you in the first place. There are paid and free anti-virus software options, so shop around and decide which is best for your needs.
Once installed it is important to regularly update the software, as new viruses and worms are evolving all the time. Set your updates to automatic, so you don’t miss a vital new version. Finally, run virus scans regularly to make sure that nothing unwanted has been installed. Again this process can be set to automatic, so you don’t forget.
4. Stay Away From the Unknown
If you receive an email from a sender that you don’t recognise, it may be best just to delete it. If you do decide to open it then never download or open any attachments as these can be the perfect vehicles for malware.
Another way for hackers to quickly gain access to your PC is through downloadable files. This is why you should never download anything from a site that you don’t inherently recognise and trust. This includes items such as: free printables, music, images or desktop wallpaper.
5. Strong Passwords
Use individual passwords for every different website you access and make the passwords as complex as possible. Depending on the length and characters you are allowed to include, you should use a mixture of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. The more complicated the password, the less likely it is to be discovered. You should also change your passwords regularly, no less than every quarter.Another element that people forget is to secure their Wi-Fi connection. This should always be password protected, again using a complex password that is regularly updated. Without this in place you are not only allowing people to steal your bandwidth but you could also be allowing them to steal much more if they hack into your PC.
Using a combination of all these methods should ensure that your PC stays secure from hackers. However, always be alert to potential new hazards and keep current with software updates. Hackers are always finding ways to exploit software vulnerabilities to access your computer and the best way you can protect it is by keeping up to date.
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