How to keep hackers away from your personal computer

Hackers have become more sophisticated over the past half decade. With the proliferation of internet applications and social media, users are at risk of losing sensitive data to cybercriminals. It is therefore vital that users practice good computer security to keep their personal computers safe. Here are a few cyber security tips to protect your personal data from hackers.

Get an Antivirus

Cyber security starts with a good and effective antivirus and antimalware strategy. With antivirus software, you really get your money’s worth. Free versions usually give a minimum level of computer security and protect you from only a limited range of cyberattacks. This leaves you open to countless malicious codes roaming the dark web.

A good antivirus should protect you while you shop online. It should also be able to detect malicious codes in your email and protect you from visiting suspicious websites. Some antivirus prgrammes fortify your personal computer’s in-built firewall that restricts malicious internet traffic from reaching your device. You can’t practice good computer security without an antivirus and antimalware software.

Beware of External Devices

One of the easiest ways your computer security could be compromised is when you plug an infected external device into your personal computer. This is especially dangerous these days because most USB-connected devices have plug-and-play features, meaning they are readable as soon as they are plugged in.

To stay safe, make sure you only connect devices from trusted sources. Also, ensure you have an additional security feature that scans devices for viruses and malware before accessing any information saved on them. If there is malicious content, your antivirus will prompt you and advice you on the best thing to do in order to secure your personal computer. Practicing good cyber security measures will protect you while online, but you have to first scan the physical devices you connect to your personal computer to protect your computer.

Secure Your Internet Connection

The next steps in cyber security is making sure you are using the internet over a secure network. Because hackers normally work through the internet, it is important to ensure you are only accessing the internet using a trusted network source. Hackers logged onto insecure networks can easily steal sensitive personal data from computers connected to that network. You should, therefore beware of free Wi-Fi hotspots in cafes, airports, shops, and even on buses. Staying away completely is better for your computer security.

If you have a Wi-Fi router at home, make sure you secure it with a password to limit the activities of hackers and other nefarious actors.

Use Double-Factor Authentication

Account impersonation occurs when someone steals your login credentials and uses them to hack into your online accounts. Once they have access to your account, it is easy for them to collect information. For anybody with an online account, therefore, double-factor authentication is the basis for a solid cyber security strategy.

When you enable double-factor authentication on an account, the service provider will always send you a confirmation code before logging you into the account. This confirmation code is sent to a mobile phone you have added in your account settings. And so even if someone had access to your password, they would not be able to log into your account because the notification code would come to your phone.

In addition, it is important to constantly change the passwords on your online accounts. This will keep the hackers guessing all the time, and if they can’t get past the first bridge, you have a better chance of protecting your personal computer and all your personal data. You should not slack in your cyber security efforts because cybercriminals do not slack either.

Beware of Emails

Hackers gain access to your personal computer through external devices connected to it and also through social media and email accounts. Clicking on emails from untrustworthy sources could lead you to giving sensitive information to the wrong persons. Because sending and receiving emails are a part of the daily activities of an average internet user, keeping your inbox safe and locked-down is an important step in ensuring cyber security.

These malicious contents, be they rootkits, viruses, etc., compromise your computer security and steal information from your personal computer, usually without your knowledge. Worse, ransomware could be used to block your access to your own personal computer; your data will be encrypted or deleted until you pay up a stated ransom amount to the hackers.

Make sure you trust an email before opening it. Also, don’t set your email client to open attachments automatically. With malicious content in attachments, all it takes is for you to open to execute them and your entire computer security is thrown to the dogs.

Use a Virtual Private Network

A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, routes your internet connection through an encrypted loop to throw off hackers. It serves as buffer between your personal computer and the server from which information is directed, thereby representing a very important tool in cyber security.

VPNs are effective at preventing hackers from identifying you in order to steal information on your personal computer. There are different VPN services out there, and you should understand the range of services they offer before subscribing to one. A VPN coupled with other internal security measures is a positive step in establishing computer security.

Beware of Apps and Software

Apps like Facebook and Twitter are backed by some of the best brains in terms of data security. But even they get parts of their systems hacked or compromised in one way or the other. Hackers do this by taking advantage of bugs in these apps. The moment you hear of a security breach in any of the big tech companies, follow through by logging out completely before changing all your login credentials. Logging out invalidates all stored sessions. This can help you prevent hackers from accessing your account from your previous login activity.

You should also beware of all apps you install on your personal computer. Apart from making sure you read and understand their privacy policies to make sure you know what they are doing with your data, make sure you are comfortable with the level of access they have to your personal computer before downloading them.

Also, update all software you have on your personal computer. Good cyber security involves securing all the apps on your personal computer. If an app is not updated, hackers will take advantage of it and exploit the vulnerabilities within them. Many applications allow for automatic updates; remember to check that option so you won’t be left vulnerable when you forget to update your data.

Lastly, uninstall apps and software you are not using as part of good and effective computer security practice. Because many of them share data via the internet, they might be open to hackers if you don’t use them and also forget to update them. Once you are not using an application or a software has outrun its usefulness, do the right thing and remove it from your personal computer to keep your data safe.

Remember that hackers are always on the lookout for vulnerable computers to steal information from. Be proactive and practice good cyber security measures to protect your data.