If there’s a concern on the lips powerful people all around the world, it’s generally pointed towards one topic: cybersecurity. The safety of your data and information continues to make headlines as more and more of our daily lives are spent in the virtual realm.
While some greater concerns related to cybersecurity might be out of your control, there are things you can do to ensure your devices and information remain safe and secure. Performing a bit of technology maintenance every once in a while can ensure things remain running smoothly.
What exactly do you need to do to ensure you’ll be safe in the coming months and years? Read on and we’ll walk you through everything that you need to know.
Update and Run Anti-Virus Software
It’s a dangerous world out there on the world wide web. If you spend time browsing around you’ll find that it’s easy to get into trouble with dangerous malware. You need to take a pro-active approach when it comes to these kinds of threats to your security.
You should ensure that the anti-virus software that you have installed is always updated to the newest version. Falling behind on these updates could leave you vulnerable to new threats. Updates should be up to date with the latest problems out there.
Once you’re updated, make sure to run a scan and ensure there are no viruses on your computer at the moment. You should be able to use your program’s default scan program which should be fairly self-explanatory.
You can even plug in your external hard drives and have the scanner check those for problems as well.
Anti-Spyware Programs
The anti-virus program that you have likely has the ability to do a basic spyware check built-in. However, it doesn’t hurt to have a program dedicated to this task as well. There are many affordable options out there that you can use.
Many anti-spyware programs can also operate live and protect you as you browse the web. This is a great feature that can save you time and trouble later on.
Back-Up Your Computer
Something most computer owners could do a lot better at is backing things up. It’s far too easy to get lazy and not make back up copies of your files and then blam— something bad happens, they’re gone, and it’s too late to do anything about it.
Having multiple backups of your computer can provide a great sense of insurance. You’ll know that no matter what happens, your files and data will be safe. Backing things up is as easy as buying a few external hard drives and setting up a transfer.
Both Macs and PCs have built-in back up programs that can make the process easy and self-explanatory.
It’s a good idea to avoid keeping all of your back up drives in the exact same location. This way, if something bad happens to that drawer you keep your drives in, you’ll still have another back-up drive located somewhere else.
Change Your Passwords
It feels as if you have to have a password for almost everything these days. You likely use the same two or three passwords as you move around the web, or how else would you be able to keep them all in your head?
While this is understandable behavior, it also puts you at great risk. Your password getting hacked in even once place could make you vulnerable in areas all around the web. One domino that falls could lead to so many others.
Having secure passwords, to begin with, can be an important help. That means with a large number of characters and a mix of letters and symbols. Even if you have a strong password, however, you should make sure to change them as much as possible.
Keeping your passwords constantly changing will greatly decrease the odds of you’re password getting taken from you.
If the websites you have accounts at allow you to use two-factor authentication, it’s recommended that you do.
Keep Your Drive Clean
If you want your computer to continue to run smoothly over the coming years, you’ll want to stay on top of keeping your drive cleaned and organized. If you use up too much of your drive space, your computer might start to run slow and laggy.
You increase the risk of a crash, which means you’ll need to boot from usb to get back up and running again. This could become a common (and annoying!) occurrence.
It can be hard to keep up with all your files and programs if you don’t set a schedule to do some maintenance. Cleaning out files and programs you don’t use at the top of each month can help prevent a severe build-up from happening.
When you do delete files, make sure you clear your trash or recycling bill afterward. You can delete files from your computer but until you’ve done this task of clearing, they’ll remain on your computer, taking up space.
You will want to make sure, of course, that you really don’t need any of those files before you clear the trash. Once you’ve cleared it, there’s no getting those files back.
Technology Maintenance Tasks You’re Ignoring
It takes some work to keep on top of your data and ensure it’s all safe. Performing some of the above technology maintenance tasks can help to ensure that your devices will remain safe and sound for many weeks to come.
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