The most important thing to protect your computers, mobile devices and information from hackers is secure pc software. Hackers (also called cybercriminals) break into your computer or other device for many reasons, including the theft, modification and deletion of information you consider important. Hackers are malicious unlike other thieves who make use of stolen items for legitimate reasons. They are most interested in unauthorized access to your sensitive information, often before you are aware that something is wrong.
Passwords and passwords, as well as a virus protection program and a firewall are the three main steps to secure your PC software. If you follow these basic best practices, your computer will be significantly less susceptible to being compromised by hackers, malware or ransomware (software that encrypts your data and demands payment in order to unlock it).
Change the name of the administrator account. Be sure to choose a password that is strong and contains upper- and lowercase numbers, letters and computer symbols. Avoid using a short password, like 1234, because hackers are able to use automated tools to break easy-to-guess passwords in minutes.
Update your operating system and other software. The majority of software updates include security fixes to protect against hackers. Install all patches and turn on automatic updates if they are they are available to reduce the amount of time that you are vulnerable to hackers.
If you have a laptop, or any other portable device, make sure the drive is encrypted when not in use. This is especially important for UF students. You can enable encryption in Windows by going to Settings > Update and security > Device encryption. This will secure your entire internal drive, as well as the majority of external drives, including SD cards.
