Data loss is a common fear amongst individuals and companies. According to Boston Computing, 6% of all computers will sustain some form of data loss every year. Most of these computers weren’t secured and placed themselves in a weakened position, however.

By regularly updating your computer and investing in data backups, you can make sure your data is safe.

We go into why it’s important to update your computer and backup your data on a regular basis.

What Do Security Updates Do?

A security update is the most common type of update. Whenever your software asks you to confirm the update, this is to make sure you agree with the update. For the sake of your security, you always need to have the latest version of whatever program or operating system you happen to be using.

The security update ensures you’re protected against the latest online threats. Hackers and attackers change their approaches all the time. You have to keep up with them or they will find vulnerabilities in your system.

This applies even if you haven’t done anything yourself. Perfectly responsible users can lose data simply through the passage of time.

Backing Up Your Data

All data should be backed up. There’s no such thing as a 100% secure computer. It doesn’t exist. There’s always the risk of something getting through and blowing your entire system. A backup ensures you don’t lose anything.

In the event something goes terribly wrong and everything disappears, you can act by accessing your data backup to minimise the damage.

Where Should You Backup Your Data?

First, everything you backup should be encrypted. You don’t want your backup to have any vulnerabilities. Where you backup your data depends on you as a person.

Some people decide it’s best for them to use an external hard-drive or memory stick. This is an intelligent decision because it isn’t connected to the Internet and hackers can’t gain access to it.

It’s also possible to use the cloud or a separate server. This is better for larger companies where storing everything on external devices would be impractical. It’s also a good idea because it makes your data as accessible as humanly possible. This enables a quick turnaround should you become the victim of an attack.

You should also have multiple backup options at your disposal. In the unlikely event your backup becomes affected, all is not lost. The key to security is being able to prepare for the worst case scenario where everything goes wrong.

 

Travelling, whether for business or pleasure, poses threats for people accessing the Internet. Public Wi-Fi is notoriously vulnerable and hackers use it all the time to commit identity theft and steal data.

Most of the time, hackers are taking advantage of a user’s ignorance and a lack of security, so when you’re on the move, here are some of the things you need to know about secure Wi-Fi.

Ad-Hoc Networking

Ad-hoc networking essentially means bypassing the wireless infrastructure and forming direct computer-to-computer links. This means a hacker could gain control of your system without you knowing about it.

You can turn this off from the control panel in Windows as many computers have this enabled automatically without users knowing about it.

Automatic Connections

Some computers will automatically connect you to any old network, if it’s available. Your computer should not connect you to non-preferential networks. Disable this option from the control panel.

Rogue networks setup by hackers for the sole purpose of stealing data can take advantage of computers automatically connecting to these networks and the worst part is your computer won’t even notify you when you’re connected to these networks.

Update Your Firewall

Nothing is more important than a firewall in preventing viruses and malware. It’s even more important when you’re connecting to a network that’s fundamentally unsafe. Before you travel, make sure you have the latest updates. This includes updates for your installed antivirus system and your standard Windows firewall.

Browsing Habits

The best way to make sure you don’t fall victim to hackers on your travels is to watch how you browse. For a start, you should try to avoid using these networks wherever possible. If you aren’t online there’s no threat.

When you do have to go online, make sure you stay away from certain types of websites. Obviously, you would stay away from unsecured websites, but you should also avoid performing any actions relating to online banking. Never transfer sensitive information through a public Wi-Fi network because it can be intercepted very easily.

Furthermore, you should make sure you clear your browsing history, cookies, and cache before and after you access the network. It’s always worth it because you never know what leverage a hacker may use to compromise your security.

Overall, public Wi-Fi is not a good option for accessing the Internet. Companies should make a point of instructing their employees not to work with company information whilst they’re using a public network.

 

Data security is a big issue for any company. With the threat from the Internet increasing every day, it’s necessary to train your employees to keep company information confidential. In this article, we will take a look at some of the steps you can take to improve the security of your organisation. Remember, the majority of data breaches come from an employee’s workstation, rather than an attack on a central database.

Use it Right

The problem many employees have is they visit websites they shouldn’t be visiting on company time. By Monitoring Internet traffic and preventing employees from visiting sites with security weaknesses, you can control the problem. 40% of employees visit malicious websites in their spare time without knowing it and if you do not stop this activity, it will impact the employee’s productivity.

When Employees Leave

Whenever an employee leaves you need to change their passwords and prevent them from gaining access to the network. It’s not as rare as you think to see a disgruntled former employee leaking information from the company.

Passwords and Secrecy

Encourage employees to keep their passwords to themselves. They shouldn’t share their information with other employees. The problems begin when everyone starts using everyone else’s workstations. It might be an innocent attempt at making it easier for people to retrieve files, but it prevents tracing.

Whenever a security breach happens, it’s important to trace where it came from and who is responsible. It’s impossible to do this when employees are using each other’s computers, logins and passwords. Make sure everyone sticks to using their own workstations.

Password Training

In most cases, you’ll have to rely on your employees to change their passwords on a regular basis. Train them how to choose strong passwords. They need to know what makes a strong password and why they’re more effective than weaker passwords.

The importance of this step is in the understanding. It’s more effective than telling people they need to create a strong password for the sake of it. People are more inclined to remember to do it when they understand the need for it.

Accessing Away

Stop employees from taking their files away on memory sticks without authorization first. A high proportion of employees take their information home with them and they don’t secure it. It makes the data vulnerable and it’s outside of the company’s control. You need to have a strict policy to combat this if you’re going to ensure a high level of data security.

 

Cyber security is becoming a serious problem in society as more of our services and information are transferred to computers and online. The Heartbleed bug caused chaos, and other similar threats cause businesses a lot of downtime each year.

The humble password remains your most powerful tool. It’s the key to your front door. A bad password can easily allow a hacker to get around even the most sophisticated security systems. Look at these tips to improve your password security.

Change it Regularly

Have you ever wondered why software seems to have an update every few weeks and yet nothing changes?

Most updates are security updates. It’s essentially the software resetting itself and changing slightly to make sure hackers using the latest techniques can’t get through. With every alteration, cybercriminals have to begin their attacks all over again. Change your passwords regularly to make it even harder for hackers to get through.

Types of Passwords

You have different security levels when it comes to passwords. Let’s start with the most basic type of password. These are words and phrases personal to the individual. You’ll most commonly find them on home computers. A business should limit their usage of this type of password, despite the fact they’re easy to remember.

Restricted areas should have complicated strings of letters, numbers, and symbols. These strings can be stored independently. It’s more inconvenient for users, but these are difficult for hackers to guess through brute force attacks.

Brute force attacks always try to use common English words and phrases first.

Limit the Damage and Increase Security

Make sure your systems have multiple layers of passwords and segregate data. For example, have each password lead to only a small area of your server. The owners of these passwords should only have access to the areas of the server relevant to them. By using different passwords in this way, you increase security. Sometimes, it’s about safety in numbers.

Keep Malware and Anti-Virus Systems in Check

Keyloggers are what you want to watch out for. These can break even the securest passwords. Keyloggers are pieces of software installed on your system without your knowledge. They log your key strokes and transmit these back to a hacker. Once you enter your password, they will know the password.

It’s pointless to secure your password if you’re allowing hackers to circumvent them. Use a reputable anti-virus and malware provider, and always perform updates and scans when prompted.

Conclusion

Keeping a strong password isn’t difficult. The vast majority of people find their passwords falling into the wrong hands due to laxity. Keep altering your passwords every few weeks and ensure every other aspect of your security is completely updated.

Online security relies on a company’s ability to have every part of it work in tandem. If one area lacks, a hacker will find a way through and render your other security protocols ineffective.