Securing your personal data these days is very important due to the massive expansion the Internet undertakes every single day, worldometer statistics show that there are at least 5 new people introduced to the Internet every second, these new people are not the ones we have to worry about, I will tell you why!
Are My Files Not Protected On My Own Computer?
Well, they are if your computer is not connected to the Internet yes! Unfortunately as with every growth and massive markets to make money there are scammers, hackers and crackers. These are the people that will steal your data for financial gain and blackmail. All of your home computers could be on a botnet and not even realise it!
A botnet is basically a worm that hackers use to control your computer, well, not just your but multiple computers from around the world! They could infect thousands of computer systems and have all of that power under their fingertips and it is the exact same power as a data centre has. They also have access to any data that you have on your computer, yes, that means ANY data…. images of your family, software and any other documents that are important to you.
How Do I Protect Myself?
The best way to protect yourself, which is what a lot of people say, is to update your computer with the newest patches for Microsoft operating systems. In my own experience this is not the case! I have actually spent time myself in the hacker world and they have things called 0-days! This means they have found a way into certain systems through a loophole and have not told the manufacturer so they won’t be able to make a patch and do not know about the exploit in their software.
Take Frequent Backups
The best way on earth by far! is to take frequent backups! Backing up your data to somewhere else other than your own network or computer is an excellent idea and many people have started doing this. A lot of services are now available on the Internet, the services are run by huge data centres willing to rent others space in their massive warehouses to store their personal files! I use one myself called ShareFile and they take amazing care of my data.
The costs are very low and the security is top notch, this means all of my personal stuff is stored away from my personal network from prying eyes, even if I caught a virus or a piece of malware I will be in safe hands knowing that my data can be transferred right back to me after my machine is formatted and squeaky clean from viruses.
Bio: My name is Tom and I ran my own data centre at home for many years, I know how hard it is to lose very personal data and the costs that are involved! Backin up makes sure that this does not happen.