If you’ve read our series on viruses and malware, you may be wondering what steps you can take to protect yourself, your family, and your business. Well, you’re in luck!
Here are our six top tips:
- If the email looks suspicious, don’t open attachments or click links!
- If you get an email that seems suspect, don’t click anything! These links and attachments could be hiding secret malware, ready to steal your data.
- For more about spoof emails, check out this handy blog!
- Make sure your security software includes protection against spyware AND that it is updated regularly
- Just having an anti-virus isn’t enough, you have to make sure it is updated.
- New viruses and malware are created all the time, so updates are created all the time to combat those new threats.
- Keeping on top of your updates will keep you better protected.
- If you’re a business customer, we recommend that you use our Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), which uses AI to deliver the highest level of protection. Click here to find out more about what it does.
- Keep your operating system and software updated
- As it is with your anti-virus software, keeping all of your software up-to-date and ‘patched’ will keep you protected against major security risks.
- Make sure all the software you’re using still get security updates and aren’t ‘unsupported’
- Software and operating systems have lifecycles and eventually become unsupported by their manufacturer. This means they sort of go ‘out of date’ and no longer receive updates for security issues.
- Popular operating systems that are unsupported are Windows XP, Vista and 7 and examples of unsupported software are Microsoft Office 2010 and older versions.
- Apple operating systems have a shorter life span with every Mac operating system from El Capitan (OS X 10.11) and older being unsupported.
- If you’re unsure, we can check for you whether your programs and operating system are still supported – give us a call on 01553 692727 to talk to our team.
- Be careful with what you download and ensure that you understand what the program will do
- Only download from reputable sites or secure application sites like the App Store, Microsoft Store, or Google Play.
- Beware of ‘free’ anti-spyware tools or free VPN software
- What might seem like a good deal could be hiding malware looking to steal your data. Like the previous point, always make sure you’re downloading software from reputable sources.
Are you secure against malware? Give us a call on 01553 692727 to see how we can help protect you, your business, and your home.