7 Security Tips to Protect Your Computer from Viruses, Hackers, and Spies

As per the CISO benchmark report, 2019 conducted by CISCO ransomware attacks are growing at an alarming rate of 350% per year. From stealing your data to tricking you into revealing crucial financial information, the hackers go to any length to ensure they are able to succeed in their plans. When it comes to businesses, a virus attack means a heavy loss in terms of data and man-hours. If you are also worried about you being the next target here are 7 Security Tips to Help Protect Your Computer from Viruses, Hackers, and Spies.

Firewall usage

The computer operating systems have an innate quality of keeping these unlawful elements and that is known as a firewall. These firewalls stop any unauthorized attempt to gain access into your system. Once you purchase a new computer, your first step should be enabling a firewall. However, if you are a large business you can opt for an additional business firewall and stay safe from any attacks.

Antivirus software

Antivirus software can detect any threats to your system and remove them to ensure your computer is not prone to a breach. However, the choice of antivirus software needs to be done sensibly. Some popular antivirus software like Bitdefender Internet Security 2019  even provide automatic updates so you know if there are any potential threats to the computer.

Difficult passwords

When we use secure and difficult to decipher passwords it becomes difficult for the hackers to enter our system. By secure we mean a password that is a complex combination of numbers, letters and special characters. Often easy numbers and special dates are easy to detect hence avoiding them is the best thing to do.

Encryption

At any point in time, you can use Bitdefender VPN to secure your internet connection and ensure that no one gets permission to access your browsing data. Use a secure and encrypted method to create a unique password for your router. Or better still you can create one which provides you a unique password each time you log in.

Back up the computer

Though no one wants a virus or hacker attack sometimes it is beyond our control. To avoid facing any loss of data keep your data backed up. You can purchase an external hard drive to save some of the information. Also, the operating systems have a provision of backing up and you can also take their assistance.

Keep your browser and apps up to date

Your operating system would keep informing you about any new updates coming your way. Make sure to keep installing these updates as and when they crop up. The updates are designed to help your computer combat any attacks. Apart from that the browser settings especially those related to security needed to be reviewed on a regular basis. If you see any forceful entry, you may be able to stop it just by being careful.

Shut down your computer

Now, this is something very basic. Often we want to avoid the process of opening the computer and thus leave it in a standby mode. This is an incorrect practice and if you have been practicing it stop doing so right now.  When your computer is in idle mode there are high chances of an intrusion and keeping it shut down during the time it is not being used is advised.

Conclusion

The internet world is full of thieves willing to snatch your information and use it to their advantage. However, if you are careful enough you can use the above steps and thwart their plans beforehand.  At the rate at which hackers are growing it is best to take precautions and maintain your mental peace.