Most of our lives are dependent on the internet today. There is not a day that passes by without each of us using the online resources in one way or another at least once. In fact, for most of us, our days are spent in front of the computer screens as that is what our work and education requires. Connecting to the internet has become an easy task nowadays because there are devices such as the smart phones and tablets that help us stay connected all the time no matter where we are. The growing use of online resources also raises the probability of security risks which can affect not only your device but the data inside it at as well.
Even though the importance of online security has been stressed upon for many years now, there are still a lot of people who do not pay attention to this, especially on their mobile devices. For these people, it should be known that keeping your device unprotected may cost them a lot more than they expected. The truth is that if your device has no protection then your personal data as well as any other sensitive information may just get into the hands of the wrong people.
Securing your personal data as well as your device isn’t a hard job at all but it does require you to be proactive. This means that you need to take steps right now before something happens. Some steps to securing yourself from online threats are given below; following these will ensure that you are protected at least at the mediocre level.
Step 1: The most important step which you have probably heard a lot of people say is to stay updated. Always make sure that your operating system (Windows or other) along with the software that you use is updated. This point should especially be kept in mind when talking about anti-virus and other such security software. If you can’t find the time to manually update your software, then set it to automatic update so the program can do it on its own.
Step 2: The most common way for malware to get into the computer or any device is through link clicking. Yes, this is the one way that most viruses strike and alarmingly most people are still doing it just out of ignorance. Clicking on random links on websites is the easiest way you give entrance to various kinds of malware. To stay safe from such malware, you should also have the latest antivirus programs and firewall installed on your device.
Step 3: You may have 5-10 different email, social and work accounts, but you need to make sure that each of these passwords is unique and above all, strong. Having passwords such as 12345 or ABC123 is an extremely bad idea because then your account will be as easy as a pie to crack. Also, never give out your passwords to people unless and until they are not extremely close to you.
Step 4: One thing that gamers and designers often do is to disable their security so that their connection can run faster. This is a major mistake because being online in the first place is the biggest threat and doing that without an ongoing security is suicide.
