How to stay clear of Internet Security Threats

Communications have been vastly improved by the openness of the Internet, however this same openness brings with it security issues. People with malicious intents scout the internet in search of preys to wreak their havoc on. They steal data with criminal intentions and they also release virus software that can harm users’ computers on the network. A few security tips are very handy in order to stay clear of harmful intentions of these Internet security criminals.

Install security software like anti-virus software and firewall on your system. They block unauthorised access to your system.

Always make sure you use strong passwords. Passwords are strong when they are five to eight characters long contain a mix of upper case and lower case letters, symbols and numbers. They should not be made up of names or items conspicuously related to you such as your pet’s name or your date of birth. Also, change your password regularly and do not reveal your password to anyone under any circumstance. The best systems are the ones that mandate the users to change their passwords every 30 days and a previously used password would be denied re-use except after about 12 password changes down the road which would make it about a year after.

Be suspicious of uncalled-for e-mail attachments from people you do not know and when the attachment comes from an address of someone you do know it there was no prior discussion about such an attachment call to confirm that it was actually sent by the person. The reason is that viruses have been known to pretend to come from viable addresses so that they can cause havoc once they are downloaded.

Regularly backup important files and folders as support for them possibly becoming corrupted, damaged or stolen.

Because of the vulnerabilities on the internet it makes sense to log off from the network when the system is not in use. Another means of achieving this is to set up a timer which automatically logs the system off whenever it has been idle for say five minutes. This feature ensures some form of safety for you if you have to wonder away from your system for a while. No one will be able to quickly access your system as it would have logged itself off.