Protect Your Tech: Six Tips for Tablets, Phones, Home and More

The miracles of modern technology have transformed our world. Nearly everyone has some little gadget that they can’t be without, including things like smartphones, iPads, and laptops. Though these things are very useful, they do present a tempting target for thieves. You can follow these steps to protect your home and your gadgets from the grasping hands of thieves.

Protecting Your Data
One of the main ways that these gadgets present a security risk is through data theft. Thieves will steal information from these gadgets that will allow them to steal your identity or make purchases without your consent. This kind of date theft can be prevented with a few simple steps.

1. Passwords
The first step is to use good passwords. Make sure your smartphone, iPad or laptop locks when it is not in use. Use a good password that has both lower and uppercase letters as well as numbers. You should not use things like birthdays or other personal information to create a password. Use something random that the thief could never guess.

2. Install a Remote Locating Program
As well as protecting your data with passwords, you can also install some programs that will help if your gadget does get stolen. There are programs that you can install on iPads, laptops and smartphones that will allow you to locate them if they are stolen. If you have one of these programs installed and the thief connects to a network, then you can instantly locate them and call the police to recover your gadget.

3. Install a Remote Wiping Program
There are also remote wiping programs that can be installed on your computer to protect your data. These will wipe the data on your computer or mobile device to prevent the thief from stealing your personal information.

4. Protect Your Emails
When you are sending emails with your Apple gadget, you should use a secure email tool like Good for Enterprise. This program will beef up the encryption of the emails you send, making them nearly impossible for hackers to read them.

5. Surfing Safely
One way that people get their data stolen often is by surfing on insecure networks. Identity thieves love to take advantage of this. You can prevent this by using a virtual private network (VPN) whenever you are using a Wi-Fi connection. This VPN will prevent thieves from seeing what you are doing on your computer, keeping all of your browsing activity secure.

6. Protecting Your Home
You should also take advantage of these gadgets to secure your home. You should install a high tech security system that will protect your home from intruders. You can sync this high tech security system with your gadgets to keep an eye on your home when you are not there. This will allow you to do things like watch video feeds from your home on your iPad from anywhere that you have an Internet connection.

Five Ways You Can Stop Hackers in Their Tracks

Hackers persist in ways that ordinary criminals could never get away with. They prey on people who are unwise about the way computers work and rely on exploiting vulnerabilities in everyday software to gain unauthorized access to their personal computers. Once they're inside, they can steal every piece of data stored on that computer, including credit cards, personal information and more. Some hackers can be so ruthless that they steal everything from people regardless if it's related to personal, business or even charity interests.

Needless to say, they can make a real mess of things.

The good news is that they can be stopped. There's five easy things that you can do to protect yourself from hackers.

1. Use Strong Passwords That You Can Remember

Simply put, weak passwords that are under seven characters are easy for hackers to guess. If they can't guess them, they can input every combination of characters until they get them, provided they really want to.

Make your passwords strong by mixing letters and numbers together. Instead of “golfing” for your passwords, use something like “82golfing55”, where the first two digits signify the year you started doing something and the last two another year that only you would know.

2. Antivirus Software

One of the most common ways hackers gain access to your computer is through malicious software. The best way to counter this is to use an up-to-date antivirus program that automatically scans files you download and provides you with a periodic scan of your entire hard drive. Most antivirus programs can detect things that might be malicious using heuristic scans.

3. Updated Software

Manufacturers release regular updates to software that patch the security holes that hackers use to gain access to your system. Regularly check for updates for the software that you use the most, which includes any internet browsers and operating system software.

4. Firewalls

You can't fix every hole that software and manufacturers aren't always the best to rely on for timely patches. What they don't fix can be secured by a good firewall. A firewall will allow you to regulate who and what access your computer, and a better one will allow you to regulate what leaves your computer.

5. Be Smart

Out of all these tips, this is the most important one. If hackers didn't have any holes in software, they would still be able to gain access to computers by using something called “social engineering.” They can trick you into entering sensitive things like your bank login information by using pages that look real. Always check the URL of the page you're on and make sure you know who you're talking to.

About the Author:

Madyson Grant is currently pursuing a degree at an Engineering Institute using an advanced diploma kit. She is using her knowledge to blog about the ways to protect yourself online.