Secure pc software is the key to safeguarding your mobile device, computer and your data from hackers. Hackers (also called cybercriminals) are able to hack into your device or computer for a variety of reasons, such as taking, altering and deleting data you consider valuable. Hackers have malicious motives unlike other thieves who make use of stolen items for legitimate purposes. They are most concerned with the unauthorized access to sensitive information. This could happen before you even know that something isn’t right.

Passwords, a virus protection program and firewalls are the three main steps to protect your computer software. If you follow these best practices, your computer will be much less likely to be compromised by hackers, malware or ransomware (software that locks your data and demands payment to unlock it).

Change the name of your administrator account. Choose a strong password that contains lower- and uppercase letters, numbers and computer symbols. Avoid using a password that is short like 1234 as hackers can use automated tools to break passwords that are easy to guess in just a few minutes.

Update your operating system and other software. The majority of http://www.pcinfoblog.com/5-crucial-basics-in-ma-deal-management software updates contain security fixes that protect against hacking. Install all patches and enable automatic updates if available, to reduce your vulnerability to hackers.

If you own a laptop, or any other portable device that isn’t being used, ensure that the drive is protected. This is especially important for UF students. You can enable encryption in Windows by going to Settings > Update & Security > Device encryption. This will secure your entire internal drive and most external drives, like SD cards.