10 Tips on Computer Data Security You Must Know About

With increasing malware threats and new attack techniques of hackers, data security has become an important aspect to look into; particularly for small and medium enterprises. They are the main target for hackers and unknown threats. In a nutshell, data security means protecting your data, and your database from digital attacks.

Here are 10 quick tips on computer data security you must know about:

1. Establish Basic Security Policies

Establish basic security policies to protect your data in your network. Limit access to information for every employee. By doing this, you are reducing the chances of data leakage. Humans are still dubbed as the weakest link in IT security. One wrong move by an employee can put the reputation of an entire organization in jeopardy.

2. Check your Password

We have not outgrown our bad password habits. Most still take the entire concept of “strong passwords” for granted, until they come to know that some hacker from some part of the world has hacked their passwords. Strong passwords are easy to create; use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, some numbers, and special characters. If remembering such a password makes you rack your brains, then go for phrases that you can easily recollect; may be the title of your favorite poem. For example, DingDongBell@007.

3. Get Reliable Security Software

For computer data security, having good antivirus software is imperative. Data, whether on your personal laptop or business network is what cyber criminals are after. An attacker can steal your personal or financial data by installing a malware on your PC, by phishing you, or by simply using a USB drive. Your business data may be stolen by tricking your employees with a phishing website or by infecting the entire network with a malware. To prevent such scenarios, antivirus software is something you should strongly consider investing in.

4. Keep Operating System Updated

Keep your automatic updates ON. Software updates give critical patches to repair known security vulnerabilities in your system. Having unpatched vulnerabilities in your system is having an open safe in your house, waiting to be robbed any moment. Attackers can easily exploit any vulnerability in your Internet browser and steal sensitive information such as login ID and passwords. So, ensure that your browsers, programs, and computer OS are patched and up-to-date.

5. Install Firewall

Firewall keeps a check of what goes in your system and what goes out. It keeps away malicious traffic from infiltrating your computer. If your computer’s firewall is down, attackers can get firsthand entry into your system and steal your data. So, the first measure you should consider taking for your computer data security is having a firewall.

6. Categorize What Needs To Be Protected

Protecting your data begins with identifying the type of data. For instance, data related to your bank accounts of the organization is classified information. It is important to keep a backup of such data and encrypting it.

7. Backup the Files

Backing up your data is a basic data security measure. If your PC or business network is attacked by a hacker, then you can restore your data instead of starting everything from scratch. Ensure that you perform regular backups and keep the data in a secure place.

8. Encryption of Data
Encryption saves your data from getting misused. When you encrypt your data, no one but you can read it. So even if a hacker steals it, they won’t be able to make anything of it. Whether it is in your PC, business endpoints or phone, consider having your personal and confidential information encrypted.

9. Use Secure Connections

While transmitting or sharing any kind of data always make sure that your network connection is secure. Ensure that the website you are logging into has a secure connection (its URL would begin with ‘https’). This is especially important in the case of ecommerce and banking websites.

10. Use Common Sense

All the tips mentioned above can be boiled down to one tip and that is - use your common sense. Many a times, nothing but common sense has helped mankind prevent the greatest of disasters.