Antivirus, Enterprise, GDPR, Internet Security, Uncategorised

5 steps to protect your personal information online

The internet has improved our lives in a number of different ways. Most businesses have chosen the internet as their…

Published 8 years ago in
5 steps to protect your personal information online

The internet has improved our lives in a number of different ways. Most businesses have chosen the internet as their primary means of making profits through selling their products online. Large companies are also using the internet to advertise their products and reach potential buyers without having to travel to their showrooms or retail stores. This makes it vital for you to protect your personal information online in 2018.

When it comes to entertainment and leisure, people are choosing  social media as the perfect place to relax and get to meet new people. Although the internet has made our lives easier than ever before, have you ever thought of how susceptible your identity or privacy is to hackers, scams and other security threats?

The internet has become a dangerous place today. Privacy is becoming an increasingly rare commodity and that’s because most people are not fully aware of the dangers. What we can see is just the tip of an iceberg with serious threats being hidden underneath.

With an increase in networks, websites, and social media platforms, most people are continuously and carelessly revealing their identity online without having a second thought. In the process, you expose your personal information to third-party individuals who in return use the information to hack your emails, your accounts or even steal or damage personal information which was crucial to you.

This article has been researched and provides five steps that you can use to protect your personal information from possible hacks, damage or loss.

1. Private data protection

Did you know that the more information you share online the easier it is to get hacked? While you might think that your Facebook, Gmail or Yahoo account are safe and free from cybercrime just because you have a private password, it’s not. The moment you share your identity online, it becomes pretty easier for hackers to track and finally steal valuable information from you.

To stay safe, it’s advisable that you delete all useful personal data from your social media sites. Revealing simple information such as birthdays, mothers maiden names and pet names can lead to unscrupulous people gaining access to your accounts through recover methods.

Secondly, keep your social media account barren by deleting your date of birth, email address, and phone numbers. Remember, the more information hackers get about you, the easier it is for them to reach you.

Finally, consider adjusting your privacy settings. Here, you need to change your privacy settings in all your social media account to only allow a few trusted friends and family members access your personal information. Oversharing of information is very dangerous and in many cases, it leads to home break-ins by criminals who discover that you’re not around.

2. Use a secure wireless connection

We all love free internet but did you ever think of how risky it is especially when you don’t have strong passwords and firewalls on your device? A free Wi-Fi network will give you access to information online but imagine what would happen if there was an experienced hacker nearby. All your secret files will definitely be accessed, stolen or even be used against you.

Therefore, to protect your personal information online, it’s wise to avoid using unsecured public networks. On the other hand, if you own a router, it’s advisable that you use strong passwords that are hard to guess. To guarantee data protection from hacker cyber-security, it’s advisable that you avoid connecting your PC or Android device to unsecured public networks.

3. Use two-factor authentication and check for encryption

Two-factor authentication is one of the best ways of securing personal information from potential hackers. When logging in to your social media sites, a special code is sent to your device via text or generated by a smartphone app. Although the process is time-consuming, it offers an authentic way of securing your personal information from possible cybercrime.

Apart from the two-factor authentication, it’s advisable that you look for encryption every time you visit a website. The reason why most people end up losing funds, crucial data or personal information is because they share their information on unsecured websites. Before sharing your credit card information or making online transactions always ensure that the website has a security lock symbol at the top left and an extra “s” symbol at the end of http (https) in the address bar.

4. Strong passwords

The most common way of protecting your online identity from possible cybercrime is by creating strong passwords. For even more added security, it’s advisable to create long passwords with a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols. Some people might find it easy but imagine creating a couple of passwords for different social media accounts—of course, it will be difficult to remember all the passwords.

Password manager apps have come to the rescue to help you remember all the passwords you create for all your different sites. With third-party trusted apps such as LastPass and 1Password, managing your passwords will now be easy and fun. For more information check out our article – How to make a strong password for 2018

5. Beware of phishing sites

Phishing websites masquerade as genuine websites and attempt to steal your information by having you enter it as you normal would. This trick is used by the majority of cybercriminals to access things such as your internet banking, e-commerce accounts and social media accounts. To stay safe, always double-check the websites you log into, avoid sharing your email address to unknown internet users, and avoid money offers, job opportunities, and donation requests from strange or unfamiliar senders.

Other tips to protect your personal information online

Apart from the above steps, there are many other ways through which you can protect your personal information from possible hacking. Some of these steps include; scanning your PC for possible malware, avoiding taking part in online quizzes, utilising private browsing, as well as keeping all your online activities as private as possible. By doing this, you’ll not only secure your personal information but also protect your PC, Android or tablet devices from possible malware attack.

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Antivirus

Your antivirus is probably slowing your PC more than protecting it

Antivirus is one of the first things most people install on a new PC. After all, nobody wants malware ruining their PC or, worse, stealing their data. And to be fair, most popular antivirus suites do a decent job of protecting your PC. But the problem is, they aren’t exactly optimized to be lean or

Published 5 hours ago in
Your antivirus is probably slowing your PC more than protecting it

Antivirus is one of the first things most people install on a new PC. After all, nobody wants malware ruining their PC or, worse, stealing their data. And to be fair, most popular antivirus suites do a decent job of protecting your PC. But the problem is, they aren’t exactly optimized to be lean or lightweight. And things have become even worse ever since antivirus suites have started bundling extras like VPNs, parental controls, and browser add-ons.

All of this leaves the apps and games you actually use with fewer resources, which causes frequent slowdowns and even lag. So the uncomfortable irony is that the software meant to protect your PC ends up being the very thing holding it back.

How antivirus software can slow down your PC

When constant protection becomes constant pressure

TippaPatt</a>/Rawpixel</a>/Shutterstock””>

person using antivirus scanning tool-1
Miker Rivero/MakeUseOf/TippaPatt/ShutterstockRawpixel/Shutterstock
Credit: Miker Rivero/MakeUseOf/TippaPatt/Rawpixel/Shutterstock

Antivirus softwares love to present themselves as silent protectors. Always watching, always keeping you safe, and never getting in your way. Sure enough, part of this is true. They work in the background, but it’s not without any impact.

Antivirus programs work by scanning files as they are opened, downloaded, copied, or modified. That means every app you launch and every document you touch triggers a quick inspection. There are also the scheduled scans, which often run when you least expect them. So if your PC has ever felt slow, even when you’ve got nothing running, it’s probably the antivirus program combing through your files in the background.

Now, the performance hit isn’t the same every time. During light, routine scans, the impact can be minimal, anywhere from 0 to 20 percent. However, during full or partial scans, this can rise up to as high as 50 percent. The impact also varies depending on the antivirus program you’re using. Some are lightweight and efficient, while others are far more demanding.

Most of the time, you may not even notice this slowdown. But as soon as you start gaming, editing videos, or running any resource-intensive apps, the story will change. That’s when both your app or game and antivirus program start to compete for the same system resources, and the performance takes a hit.

To make matters worse, modern antivirus rarely sticks to just antivirus duties. Most of them come bundled with all sorts of extras, like VPNs, password managers, and system optimizers. All of these extras run separate processes. So yes, it’s not just one program you’re dealing with. Your PC is actually running multiple different software under a single name.

You can verify if the antivirus is the bottleneck

Be sure before you act

!–>

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Antivirus

If you’re struggling to play tactics sim Menace, it could be because your antivirus is randomly deleting files

This week saw the early access launch of turn-based tactics game Menace, created by the piss-swigging misanthropes behind Battle Brothers. Julian has been having a wonderful time playing it and learning about the importance of spare ammo and adequate reconnaissance. It could have been worse, Julian…

Published 5 hours ago in
If you’re struggling to play tactics sim Menace, it could be because your antivirus is randomly deleting files

This week saw the early access launch of turn-based tactics game Menace, created by the piss-swigging misanthropes behind Battle Brothers. Julian has been having a wonderful time playing it and learning about the importance of spare ammo and adequate reconnaissance. It could have been worse, Julian…
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Internet Security

Taoiseach warns that US airport security demand for access to five years of social media activity is ‘unworkable’

Taoiseach Micheál Martin hailed US president Donald Trump as “a sensible guy” as he warned a US demand for access to five years of social media activity as part of American visa screening was simply unworkable…

Published 22 hours ago in
Taoiseach warns that US airport security demand for access to five years of social media activity is ‘unworkable’

Taoiseach Micheál Martin hailed US president Donald Trump as “a sensible guy” as he warned a US demand for access to five years of social media activity as part of American visa screening was simply unworkable…
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Antivirus

You don’t need to pay for third-party antivirus software to protect your PC anymore

Summary Most consumer devices already come with strong default security measures equivalent to or better than third-party software. Common vectors of attack for malware are already blocked by modern systems before they even reach your antivirus program. Individual consumer PCs are not a primary target for cybercriminals, and cyberattacks are often conducted by exploiting vulnerabilities

Published 5 days ago in
You don’t need to pay for third-party antivirus software to protect your PC anymore

Summary

  • Most consumer devices already come with strong default security measures equivalent to or better than third-party software.
  • Common vectors of attack for malware are already blocked by modern systems before they even reach your antivirus program.
  • Individual consumer PCs are not a primary target for cybercriminals, and cyberattacks are often conducted by exploiting vulnerabilities against third-party software, not the computer OS itself.

Do you still pay for third-party antivirus software like Norton or McAfee? You may be surprised to learn that there’s no real benefit to doing so. Software like this is mostly obsolete today.

Who pays for third-party antivirus software, and why?

It might sound like a bold claim, saying that you don’t need third-party antivirus software anymore. After all, recent statistics show that roughly half of American consumers use such programs. Interestingly enough, those same statistics also show that users over 65 are more than twice as likely to subscribe to paid antivirus software than those under 45.

Why is that? Well, there is certainly more than one reason, but a big one is simply misunderstanding and tradition.

In the past, having third-party antivirus software was prudent, almost mandatory to keep your computer safe. Some people who grew up in that era are comfortable with the idea of paying for these subscriptions, not realizing that things have changed: your computer protects itself just fine these days.

Not only do computers come out of the box equipped with incredibly good security these days, but most malware threats aren’t even targeting individual consumers. But you don’t have to take my word for it right away. Let’s dive into this in more detail.

Default security measures are more than enough today

All of your consumer devices come with default protection right off the shelf. With iOS and Android, their official app stores weed out malware and keep you safe. Mac has been using XProtect anti-malware for more than a decade, and it has an excellent record.

A screen showing an update for Windows Defender on Windows 11. Credit: Microsoft

Windows has Microsoft Defender Antivirus, which has consistently aced security tests run by third-party organizations. Since around seven years ago, Defender Antivirus has consistently earned perfect or near-perfect scores in protecting your PC.

Needless to say, that’s as good as it gets, and the program comes free with your Windows computer. There’s no paid antivirus software that can outperform this free, default option from Microsoft. They may offer more features, but not more practical benefits. But even beyond these built-in systems, there are other re

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