Keep Your Windows Safe

HACKING- A word that fascinates yet scares us all. It means you can be all-cool-beans-techy-person or become the one who gets hacked. In today’s digital world, where everything is dependent on computers and smartphones, getting hacked is not what we want. Hacking surely has become more than ever difficult yet it still not impossible to breech into your computers. Advanced hacking can cause you major losses like losing sensitive data, breeched privacy, data phishing and many more. And you my friend, don’t want your walls come crumbling down.

As technology has become more advanced so have the viruses and malware. Tech enterprises are now taking measures to ensure data safety and integrity. Windows 10 offers more security and safety than windows 7 and 8.

Whenever we think of computer security, we think of it as extremely techy and some intense coding, it is but only when you go into the nitty gritty details of it. The basic steps that you can take to ensure your own PC’s safety are well pretty basic.

So instead of waiting for someone to get your security up and high, why don’t you do it yourself? Here are some of the important yet simple to follow steps which ensure the safety of your computer:

A PC or a laptop and internet connection.

Using the updated software is one of the simplest rule to stay safe. Update your operating system and applications frequently if you haven’t turned on the automatic updates. This stops the hackers from entering your computer through any loop holes or short comings of the previous version. Also, consider disabling the features like Flash or Java as now most applications are not using them.

In windows 10 you can do this by Start -> type in Windows update ->Windows update setting -> advanced settings and then select Automatic (recommended settings)

Also update other Microsoft products regularly.

Microsoft Windows come in with Windows defender feature. This feature is

turned on by default but still to check, go to start, settings and update and security. Select Windows Defender and make sure that these 3 settings re turned on:

· Real-time protection

· Cloud-based protection

· Automatic sample submission

This is also one of the built-in functionality of Windows. This feature

controls that how you communicate with the outer world. You can check the settings of firewall by going to start menu, type firewall and then select Windows Firewall option. Now if you can see a green shield with tick marks; congratulations! Your firewall is up and running. You can turn this setting on or off by clicking on Turn Windows Firewall on or off.

You can also keep tabs on which apps to low direct access through firewall by clicking on Allow an app or feature through Widows Firewall.

Like every other software or application that you use should be updated, the anti-viruses you used should also be updated. In the case of Windows 10 or 8, you already have anti-virus installed but if you are using any previous version, make sure to download a trusted anti-virus software.

You can also manage the networks and sharing settings. Basically there are three types of sharing settings:

Private, Guest or Public and All Networks. You can change their settings accordingly. Give special attention to All Networks group. To make it secure you can do the following steps:

· No public folder sharing

· No media streaming. Turn this feature on only when you require streaming.

· Whenever you do share, use 128-bit encryption code.

· Make your sharing password protected.

Since Windows 8, Microsoft has been wanting users to sign with their Microsoft account. Like everything this has both pros and cons. Pros like sync all of your Microsoft machines and cons like Microsoft getting every information about our computers.

Another problem that users face is what to do if their Microsoft account gets hacked? So instead of worrying about all of this, go old school and manage a local account.

Use password protection and a lock screen when you are not working. This will automatically lock down your screen after a particular time out. You can do this y clicking on start, type in lock screen and choose lock screen settings.

Windows provide Malicious Software Removal Tool to remove any threat that can cause damage to your computer. This tool is regularly updated and provides secure and safe environment.

It is recommended to not use every other Wi-Fi available. Do not use every open Wi-Fi router as it makes stealing your data quite easy. Also secure your own Wi-Fi routers with encrypted passwords.

Beware of those scams and malicious activities. Do not click or open any unknown attachment. Do not insert any infected USB in your computer. These two are the most common ways tto get your computer infected.