Three Key Steps to Secure PC Software

The most important thing to protect your devices, computer systems and data from hackers is secure PC software. Hackers, also referred as cybercriminals, break into your computer for a variety of reasons. They may steal and alter or erase data that you value. Unlike other thieves, who often have legitimate uses for the stolen goods hackers are motivated by malicious motives. They are most interested in gaining access to your sensitive data, often before you even realize something has gone wrong.

The three main steps to secure pc software index are firewalls, passwords and virus protection. If you adhere to these best practices, your computer will be significantly less vulnerable to being hacked by malware, hackers or ransomware (software that locks your data and demands payment to unlock it).

Change the name of the administrator account. Make sure to choose a password that is strong and contains lower and uppercase numbers, letters, and computer symbols. Do not use a password that is simple such as 1234 since hackers can use automated software to hack passwords that are simple to guess in just a few minutes.

Update your operating system and other programs. Most software updates include security patches that help guard against hacking. Install all patches, and enable automatic updates if available, to reduce the amount of time you are exposed to hackers.

If you own a laptop, or any other portable device that isn’t being used, make sure the drive is secured. This is particularly crucial for UF students. Windows allows you to enable encryption by clicking Settings > Update and Security > Device encryption. This will secure the entire internal drive as well as most external drives, such as SD cards.