Cyber Security Tips

In a world revolved around technology, information is at our fingertips, anytime at anyplace.

We are exposed to more information now than ever before, and in turn, our information is exposed to others more than ever. Regardless of your internet use, here are 5 tips to better insure your personal information stays confidential.

We reached out to client and IT expert Jason Fisch, owner of Fisch Solutions. “We have seen a huge increase in the past 1-2 years of more sophisticated cyber attacks.”  He also mentions “the most alarming are social engineered based attacks that use data on the internet to personally attack a user so it seems like someone they know.” Here are a few tips to get you started. 

1) Tricky Passwords: Today, many sites require certain characters and symbols when creating a new password. Follow this method on all platforms. Consider using uppercase letters, symbols and making your passwords different across your platforms. This will help prevent an easy break-in for hackers. If you write these down to remember them, keep them in a safe place and don’t share them with others.

2) Safe Clicking: Be wary of clicking on attachments or links in emails and other instant messages. If there’s any suspicion surrounding them, it’s best not to click to avoid scams and viruses.

3) Backing UP: Since computers today have a wealth of personal information, as well as memories stored on them, consider backing up this data onto an external hard drive.  In the case of a virus attack, you can reload this information to a new computer at a later date if needed. 

4) Protect Sensitive Information: Avoid keeping sensitive personal information on your laptops, work computers and mobile devices. If you have them on these devices be sure you successfully and safely remove them.

5) Anti-Virus Protection: Only install an anti-virus program from a known and trusted source. (Norton, McAfee, etc.) computer program used to prevent, detect, and remove malware.

Needless to say, taking a few precautions is well worth your time.  If you have further questions on how to be safe on the internet, feel free to send us a question, we’d be happy to help.