Photo Credit: Unsplash
Online security is as important as physical security. Online shopping, virtual tours, online consultancy, and eWallets are all a reality of our world. While most of these services and websites come with cybersecurity features, a lot of them are hotspots for cyberattackers. In fact, millions of cyberattacks result in heavy financial losses every year. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt cyber-secure practices against malware, spyware, and ransomware, etc. You can also search for some Staffing agency pittsburgh to help standardize such procedures for your business.
You must be careful on the web regardless of the fact you’re working from home or your office. While working, however, a single mistake can lead to serious data disasters and financial losses. Therefore, you must surf the web by following the following standard practices.
Use Antivirus
Always keep your antivirus running in the background. It can help to detect threats both while you’re online or offline. Make sure to use quality antivirus software that can easily detect, quarantine, and resolve viruses. Norton and AVG are popular names in this business. You should make sure to run scans on a weekly basis at least. This will help to detect any corrupt or virus-infected files in the system. Make sure to remove them so that the problem does not spread.
Enable the Firewall
The Windows Firewall is an important feature. You must keep it active at all times. This is because it helps to monitor, save, and analyze all the communication taking over the network. Not only that, but it also helps to supervise the exchange of information between different IP addresses. The Firewall also helps to protect you from possible online threats and cyberattacks. It can notify you if you are visiting a harmful website.
Remove Old Apps
Old apps can get corrupted and become easy targets for viruses. If you have apps on your computer that you no longer need, you should delete them. To do so, open the “start” menu and type “control panel” and click on the relevant icon. Now, choose “Add or Remove Programs” in the next window. Here, you will be able to see a list of installed programs on your computer. Make sure to click on the uninstall button next to the apps that you no longer require.
Update Existing Apps
Exiting apps that use an active internet connection can also act as hotspots for cyberattackers. Developers frequently release updates. The purpose of these updates is to increase the robustness of apps against cyberattacks, malware, and viruses. You must always keep your apps updated so that you do not have to face a difficult situation at work when one of them gets infected with malware leading to a data disaster.
Do Not Click on Suspicious Links
Note that even though cybersecurity apps and software are becoming better with every passing day, so are the techniques of hackers and scammers. Today, they can adopt several means and methods to entice you in clicking on a malicious link on the web. Make sure not to click on any URL that you see on a pop-up while browsing a website. A new browser video may open and malicious software may begin to start downloading to your PC automatically. This file can lead to serious data disasters. Furthermore, phishing emails are also quite common these days. Remember not to open an email from an unknown person. And most of all, never share your personal information such as your social security number or credit card details over the web. Representatives from the companies offering these services will never ask you to share such information over the internet.
Do Not Download Third-party Apps Without Approval
Good companies have dedicated information security and IT departments. They help resources in buying or downloading any application from the internet. If you want access to a particular software, it is always best to get in touch with an IT professional instead of downloading it directly from the internet. It may not only be against your company’s policies and lead to serious consequences but the unreliable website you download the file from may bring a strong virus to your device. This may lead to a data disaster or compromise of important company files. Therefore, always take approval from your IT department before downloading a file from the internet.
Report Any Incident to IT
If an incident does take place while you’re browsing the internet and you feel it can have serious consequences on your company’s integrity, report it immediately to the IT department so that they can take safety measures right away. There are many data recovery and disaster mitigation steps that they can take to resolve the matter.
