7 Ways to Protect Information on Your Computer | Total Security

How do cybercriminals gain access to your information today - bank accounts, passwords from social networks, personal photos? What kind of loopholes and means are they using? How can the people of Kazakhstan protect their data? And what should the user do if he nevertheless became a victim of hackers? An expert in the field of corporate and information security gave us answers to these and other questions.

Not only the websites of banks and government organizations are the targets of hacker attacks. The personal information of ordinary users can also be of interest to cybercriminals. They willingly use someone else's accounts on VKontakte or Facebook for fraud, they can demand a ransom for private photos, and when they get to these payment systems, they can withdraw all the money on the account.

Those users who have a decrease in the speed and stability of the device need to be wary and be sure to run a full scan with an antivirus with an up-to-date database like total security. In addition, there are a number of criteria by which you can determine that intruders have gotten to your computer, tablet, or laptop.

According to the expert, it is much easier and more profitable to prevent the problem than to solve it later. Therefore, the main task of users is to prevent infection of their devices.

In summary, below we offer seven ways to protect your data. 

1: Strong Passwords 

To protect information on your work computer, you first need to create a password for your account. To do this, click: "Start → Settings → Control Panel → User Accounts" and set your password. If necessary, you can easily block your computer: start - shutdown - block. When you turn on the device, you will also need to enter a password. The laptop can be configured to lock when the lid is closed. For added security, you can set a password on the BIOS or hard drive. In this case, the password must be reliable, otherwise, the meaning of its installation is lost. Use a special generator and take the trouble to create different passwords for all your logins. This also applies to social media accounts and email accounts. You can also password protect important documents. The main thing is not to store keys in TXT, DOC, RTF files. Better to use a special program for storing passwords. Then you will only have to remember one password, and you will find the rest in the list. 

2: Current Antivirus

Perhaps the main threat to personal information is viruses. Trojans, worms, keyloggers, and other malware can remove, steal, or modify it. To protect personal data, it is advisable to have an up-to-date version of antivirus software with firewall and firewall functions, as well as to be careful on the network - do not download unverified files from file hosting services, do not follow suspicious links, and so on. 

3: Two-factor Authentication 

This system is not yet very common among users, but it is distinguished by its effectiveness. It assumes not only a strong password but also certain information or fact that is known exclusively to the user. For example, it could be his voice, fingerprint, smart card, or something else. If only outsiders did not have access to these factors. 

4: Using HTTPS Protocol

When paying for anything on the network, you need to make sure that the server supports the HTTPS secure data transfer protocol. In this case, when conducting financial transactions, the system assigns a unique certificate to the client, after which all data sent by him is encrypted with a 40, 56, 128, or 256-bit key. Decryption takes place only on end devices, so interception of such a signal will give nothing to the attacker. Websites of online stores, banks, and payment systems (Yandex. Money, Webmoney) use the HTTPS protocol by default. Services Facebook, Google, Twitter, Vkontakte provide the ability to enable it in the account settings. Resources that do not use this protocol should be treated very carefully. 

5: Securing Wireless Networks

Attackers can also gain access to the contents of a computer via an unsecured Wi-Fi network. To avoid this, it is recommended that you install the WPA / WPA2 data encryption method on your router and come up with a strong password. You can also protect yourself from hacking a Wi-Fi network by turning off the broadcast of the connection name (SSID). In this case, only those who know the exact name of the network will be able to connect to the router. 

6: Data Encryption

You can protect valuable data on your computer using encryption. Programs like Free Hide Folder, Folder Lock, TrueCrypt, and others allow you to do this completely free of charge. In addition, important files can be packed into a ZIP or RAR archive with a strong password. An attacker will not be able to open such an archive, even if he gains full access to the PC. 

7: Parental Control Systems 

The risk of catching viruses or becoming the object of a hacker attack increases significantly if children are sitting at the computer. In this case, you can protect yourself with the help of the parental control system: it allows you to regulate the time a child spends at the computer, prohibit access to certain programs and sites, and block the ability to install the software. In addition, a separate account with limited rights can be created for the child. Unfortunately, there is no universal way to protect data that would be 100% effective. Experts advise combining these or those methods and periodically backing up the most important information in order to protect yourself as much as possible from hackers.