2019 Q1 LIFE Newsletter - Issue 16

C Y B E R S E CU R I T Y

RELIANCE TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS Information Security

Cyber Security New Year’s Resolutions

The beginning of a New Year is the perfect time to check up on your personal and professional cyber security. Take this opportunity to make a couple of resolutions that will keep your technology serving you well throughout 2019. “I’ll install anti-virus software” There’s lots of malware lurking on the internet that target every computer, phone, and tablet. Installing anti-virus software can help detect and block them in case you run into one (or two!). Effective anti-virus software doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, the free versions (from reputable publishers) can be equally effective. Windows and Mac users can check out AVG free , Avira is an option for iPhone/iPad users and for Android there’s Bitdefender . “I’ll make a backup” Disk drives in our computers can fail unexpectedly and mobile devices can get lost or stolen. When they contain your important data, the only protection is to be prepared in advance. Make a copy of anything you wouldn’t want to lose, and store it in a different location than your primary copy. Cloud storage like Google Drive or DropBox are options to explore.

“I’ll turn on disk encryption” Setting a password on your computer and phone prevents people from using them without your permission. But it doesn’t fully protect the data they contain. An important additional step is to enable “full disk encryption.” This ensures that even if the device is lost or stolen, nothing can be read from it. “I’ll try an ad blocker” Even modest advertisements on websites can be annoying. They cause the pages to load slower, use more of your network bandwidth and battery power, and can lead to downloading unwanted/malicious

software. To counter them, there are free extensions available for your web browser. These extensions quietly prevent the ads from downloading and displaying in the first place so you see only the content you were looking for. If you don’t already have an ad blocker, you can checkout Adblock Plus . Just like getting in shape or taking up a new hobby, these New Year’s resolutions will take some effort. But the rewards are unmistakable. You’ll be prepared in case your device breaks, gets lost, or is targeted by malware, and browsing the internet will be faster, safer, and less cluttered. Then you can finally focus on going to the gym, quitting smoking, paying off that credit card, or spending more time with your family.

ISSUE 16 | JANUARY 2019 5