As we become more and more reliant on technology, using our computers and phones to store copious amounts of data about our personal and professional life, criminals to are becoming increasingly more sophisticated, with a marked increase in cybercrime.
However, we have compiled a few tips to help you make sure your data is – and remains – secure:
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Be careful with links and attachments in emails
We all know you shouldn’t open links or attachments in emails if you don’t recognise the sender. But you also need to be aware of links and attachments from senders you do recognise and trust. Criminals are finding more and more ingenious ways to hack into accounts and viruses can appear to come from someone you know. If in doubt, delete it!
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Use a VPN
A Virtual Private Network – or VPN – enables you to change your IP address, by routing your activity through the VPN’s server. This means that no one can track your online activities.
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Password protection
While the array of passwords we now have to remember can be a little overwhelming, having a strong password – and remembering to change it regularly – will make a huge difference to your online security. It’s also worth remembering that each capital letter or special character that you add to your password actually provides an additional layer of protection to your online accounts.
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Invest in antivirus software
Any internet enabled device from laptops to phones needs to have antimalware and antivirus software installed. This doesn’t have to be expensive, but it is important as hackers often use malware, malicious software that enables them to steal or delete information from your device, often damaging it in the process.
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Watch out for public Wi-Fi
If you have a VPN, then public Wi-Fi is fine to use as you already have the protection you need in place. However, if you don’t, it represents a huge privacy challenge, as hacking into public Wi-Fi is easy.
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Enable automatic software updates
As frustrating as these updates can be, it is important to allow them to happen as soon as you can. These updates are fixes for privacy and security issues the developers discover after the software goes live. If you set your computer or phone to update automatically, you won’t even need to think about doing it.
Recovering data
Even if your security is up to scratch, there are still instances where you might find yourself faced with lost data, particularly if your device is damaged by flooding or fire, or contaminated by dust or even a computer virus.
Rescuing documentation is an important part of the work we do at The Forshaw Group. Your documents have the greatest chance of survival if treated as soon as possible. We provide a complete solution to the restoration of electronic equipment, by acting quickly to limit the initial damage and reduce the long-term impact.
Contact us today to find out more about our restoration service.
