Secure PC software is the most important factor in protecting your computer, mobile device and your data from hackers. Hackers (also known as cybercriminals) attack your device or computer for a variety of reasons, including business transactions and information security taking, altering and deleting information that you consider important. Contrary to other thieves which often have legitimate purposes for the stolen items hackers are motivated by malicious motives. They are more concerned with having access to sensitive data that is not authorized. This could happen before you even know there is something wrong.
Passwords, a virus prevention program and firewalls are the three main steps to secure your computer software. If you follow these best practices, it’s less likely that your computer will be compromised by hackers or malware (software that encrypts your data and requires payment to unlock its unlocking).
Change the name of the administrator account. Make sure you choose an effective password that has upper- and lowercase numbers, letters and computer symbols. Do not use a short password, like 1234, because hackers can employ automated tools to crack passwords that are easy to guess in just a few minutes.
Maintain your operating system (OS) and other software up-to-date. The majority of software updates contain security fixes that protect against hacking. Install all patches and turn on automatic updates as they become available to minimize the window of time that you are vulnerable to hackers.
If you own a laptop, or any other portable device that’s not being used, ensure that your drive is secure. This is especially important for UF students. Windows allows you to enable encryption by going to Settings > Update & Security > Device encryption. This will make it impossible to access the internal drive, as well as many external drives, including SD cards.