Computers and smart devices have become such an integral part of our every day lives. It’s often easy to forget that with the convenience they offer, comes the threat of hackers and other nasties. A compromised device can lead to loss of data, finance and even identity theft.

With that in mind, there are a number of ways to mitigate the risk of hacking. Here are 5 simple but effective computer security tips that Sydney IT Assist would like to share with you.

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“5 Security Tips for your computer” Infographic Transcription

Computers and smart devices have become such an integral part of our every day lives. It’s often easy to forget that with the convenience they offer, comes the threat of hackers and other nasties. A compromised device can lead to loss of data, finance and even identity theft. With that in mind, there are a number of ways to mitigate the risk of hacking. Here are 5 simple but effective computer security tips.

1. USE A STRONG PASSWORD

Always ensure that your passwords are strong and hard to crack. Avoid passwords with sequential characters, such as “123456” or “qwerty”, as they can be easily cracked. Try to make your passwords at least 12 characters long and incorporate a mix of capital and lowercase letters alongside numbers and uncommon characters such as “#”, “&”, @.

Learn more about password management tools

2. FOLLOW THE 90 DAY RULE

In many cases, your password is the only thing stopping any unsavory types from accessing your precious personal data. So, while it goes with out saying that you should never share your passwords with anyone, it is also important to change your password on any important accounts every 90 days. Wherever possible use different passwords and security questions for different accounts.

3. STRANGER DANGER

The easiest way for hackers to gain access to your computer and vital accounts is through scam emails. Always beware of unsolicited emails, especially ones with attachments. As a rule of thumb if you don’t know who the email is from, never open it. Sometimes an email can be made to look like it has come from a secure source, such as PayPal or other financial institutions. Always check the email address that these have come from. If the domain is different from the sources, don’t respond and immediately flag as a scam email.

4. SHARING ISN’T ALWAYS CARING

It is always, best to assume that anything you do is not private. With that in mind it’s best to never share or send any information that you don’t want to fall into the wrong hands. This can include things like credit card details, or other person details. However, it’s also wise to beware of photos and other information that is shared across social media as potential employers often look at these accounts when considering you for a job.

5. BACK IT UP

Some viruses can destroy or lock (by encryption) all of the data on your device. Since so much of our information these days is saved on our computers or phones, this can be a devastating thing to happen to many people. Especially for those of us who earn a living working from their computer. The best way to avoid losing all of your valuable data is to setup regular computer backups. A monthly or even weekly back up, might seem like an inconvenience, but will save you a lot of heart ache if the worst happens. It is best to keep these backups on an external hard drive that is not always connected to your computer. This will stop your back ups from becoming infected in the event of a virus or hack.

If you suspect your computer or device is infected immediately contact your local IT company, for computer repairs in Sydney, we have you covered.

Multiple logins are hard enough to remember. To prevent password reuse, you are going to need the help of a password manager

The growing list of passwords

How many logins to online platforms are you currently juggling? Over 20 and there is a fair chance you would have started to reuse the same one. This is a ‘no no’ if following best practice, but for most of us it’s the only way to remember the 8  digit alpha numeric sequence of characters. So how do we manage when you get to over 150 logins, which is starting to become the norm? Is it possible not to use them same one? Enter the Password Manager

A basic password manager

A Password Manager (PM) in its most basic form is an app or program that securely stores your login details from a website. Imagine a small database with a lock. You remember the password to the database, and it remembers the passwords for everything else. Once you have that concept, we can then add more functionality.

Password Automation

PMs will not only record your passwords but also fill in your username and password in the appropriate login screen.  This is great as you don’t even type the password, which prevents someone looking over your shoulder. In this case, all they would see is ********. Most browsers like Chrome, Edge & Firefox also have this basic functionality built in. Watch for a pop up asking “Do you want to save this password?” To see a list of your saved passwords look under the browser settings.

Remember, if you use or share a public computer, you do not want the browser to save any passwords.

Unique passwords

When asked to create a password for a website, using a specific array of characters, we tend to use something we are likely to remember. Often this means using the same password for multiple sites.  If this password is compromised, each site where this username / password combination is used, is also compromised.

To reduce password re-use, let the password manager create a random password for you. This will often be a lengthy, complex password that would be hard to recall, but with the correct set up of a PM you won’t need to remember it at all. You either let the PM enter the details, or you ask the PM to show you the password. Copy and paste works well at this point to eliminate finger error.

An alternative method to unique passwords comes from the often referenced XKCD cartoon which is easy to understand but even now has it’s critics. Just don’t use the example as a password like many have done!

Security

Considering the consequences of someone gaining access to your newly created list of passwords, security in password managers is paramount, as is the security of that master password. The one to rule them all.

Make it hard to guess and don’t write it down. There is much debate about the best passwords to have and which are easy to crack. The general rule here is don’t use anything connecting to your personal details (birthday, anniversary, childs name etc) as Facebook gives most of those details away for free to anyone browsing.

2 Factor authentication (2FA)

2FA is using a second form of identification rather than just the password, to ensure the person logging in is the real owner. This can add another hoop to jump through, but there are ways to utilise this only when things don’t look right.

If you regularly use the same browser and PC from the same location, you can make use of 2 factor authentication only when the login to the website is from another browser, IP address, or entirely new location like overseas. Then 2FA kicks in and sends your mobile phone a code to use to confirm it is really you.

Tiered security

If you must re-use passwords, and I’ll admit it is hard not to, then create tiered security. Allocate all your logins to one of three tiers. Top level security you use for banks, financial institutions, and very secure details. Never re-use passwords here.

Middle level security, try to minimise any re-use unless it’s hard to change. You should only have a handful of sites that use this password which could include online shopping sites and email accounts. It’s worth changing this password fairly regularly.

Low level security where (if you must) you can re-use passwords. Being compromised here doesn’t allow access to any level higher or anything of value like your gardening website, blogs, Netflix, or the library. Low security websites are also good targets for hackers to compromise as the money invested in security is also usually low. Hackers expect the gain a list of username / passwords here, then try the combination at the banks which if you have followed the above, won’t be an issue for you.

Voice activation is firmly embedded in your phone, and now it’s moving into your home. Are you ready to live together?

The players to date

For Android, users have been saying “OK, Google”. For Apple, users have been interacting with Siri as their voice companion. Voice activation has been around for a while now. Since Windows 10, Cortana has taken up residence on your desktop but how many users have really grasped this new medium of interacting with your technology?. Even Amazon Echo (Alexa) has started listening to your commands in the home with limited functionality.  Now, Google has just released their take on voice activation in the home with the appropriately named ‘Google Home‘. Let’s see where it fits in and how useful it will be.

Why talk?

Whether driving, running or just a reluctance to use the miniature, fiddly, phone keyboard, being able to talk to your phone and request information really has come of age. Even with different languages and dialects it works well.

Once you become familiar with common tasks like typing long messages, asking for the weather tomorrow, having the phone read your calendar to you, or just simply tell you the time, interaction via voice becomes quite a useful feature.

If you have mastered this with your phone, you have to wonder where to next? Anyone who saw the recent movie ‘Her‘, or even the classic ‘2001 – Space Odyssey‘ will be able to see (or hear) where we are heading with all this.

Why type when you can simply talk?. If your PC or smart phone is not in the same room, a simple task becomes inconvenient. So why not use this for tasks around the house that you would normally use the PC for?

Home automation

Music plays a large part in my weekend. I’ve  ditched my unsightly CD collection some time ago and now just stream Spotify or Internet Radio. To control this I generally pick up my phone or from the PC but being able to speak commands simplifies things to the point of being lazy. But hey, that’s automation. A bit like the remote control for the TV rather than getting off the sofa to change channel. Seems overkill but you wouldn’t want it any other way now.

Let’s take this a step further. Rather than requesting information, what other tasks can we perform? This is where other apps can integrate with the listening device. Take Spotify for instance, we can ask the device to send control commands to Spotify, so the device interprets your voice, then sends the required command to another app either on your phone or network. In the case of Spotify, I could ask Alexa to “Play any Coldplay Album through Spotify”, and the device would respond with music. Getting more into the extended functionality, you can wire up any electrical device to a WeMo switch and voice activate almost anything that is plugged into it, be it a coffee machine, heater or fan in any room in the house.

Beyond the home

If we create integration with internet websites from these voice activated devices (which they already have access to) it won’t be long before we can use voice to search and book a ticket to a concert, book a flight, or buy the preset weekly shopping and have it delivered. The possibilities are endless once vendors catch up with this type of integration.

You can then add macros to the task list which run a series of preset tasks under one single instruction. “Ok Google, perform my morning routine” at which point the heating comes on along with the coffee machine, then the radio comes on in two rooms followed by the car starting and the garage door opening 30 minutes later. Sci-Fi or already here?

So which system?

As with any good product there’s a marketing plan attached, and this means trying to ensure the customer stays with your brand. Depending on your allegiance to a particular brand, it may be worth picking a side and building up your home automation accordingly to ensure all devices play nicely together. It would be too much to think that one day you come home and find Cortana and Alexa having a social chat.

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