Secure PC software is essential to protecting your computer, mobile device and your data from hackers. Hackers (also called cybercriminals) break into your computer or other device for various reasons, which include taking, altering and deleting information that you consider important. Hackers have malicious intentions, unlike other thieves who make use of stolen items for legitimate reasons. They are most concerned with unauthorized access to your personal information, often before you realize that there’s been a problem.
The three main steps to protect your PC software are passwords, a firewall and virus protection. If you follow these best practices, your computer will be much less likely to be hacked by hackers, malware or ransomware (software that encrypts your data and demands payment to unlock it).
Change the name of your administrator account. Select a strong password that includes lower- and uppercase letters numerals, numbers and computer symbols. Avoid using a password that is short such as 1234 because hackers can employ automated tools to crack passwords that are easy to guess in a matter of minutes.
Make sure that your operating system (OS) and other software up to date. Most software updates contain security patches that help guard against hacking. Install all patches and enable automatic updates as they become available to minimize the amount of time that you are vulnerable to hackers.
If you own a laptop, or any other portable device that isn’t being used, make sure the drive is protected. This is especially important for UF students. Windows allows you to enable encryption by clicking Settings > Update & Security > Device encryption. This will encrypt your entire internal drive and most external drives, such as SD cards.