Having a brand-new computer is an exciting experience, and in some cases, there is almost obsessive attention toward it because it’s so sleek and elegant. As we usually do with accessories that lose their newness with age, this care begins to fade over time as well. Thus, we suggest you follow these steps to secure your laptop, keeping it both externally and internally safe.
Prevent scratch by adding a screen protector
Who hasn’t been extremely annoyed by scratches on the screen? Front-end developers and web designers hate them, and you can imagine why. One of the best ways to preserve our screen is to use a screen protector. These artifacts protect the screens from the most varied threats, such as dust, scratches, fingerprints, or even sun exposure. If you still haven’t purchased a screen protector for your new computer, the time has come.
Fasten your laptop with a Kensington cable
Kensington cable
This is the ideal solution for those who work in public environments and fear that their computer could be stolen. The Kensington Slot can be paired with a standard security cable lock.
Laptops with a Kensington lock hole can secure their portable device with a Kensington lock. The lock is inserted through the hole, with a cable attached around a secure location (e.g., table leg), so no one can walk away with the laptop while you’re away.
Add an antivirus
Many people believe that antivirus software serves no real purpose or simply doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do in protecting our computers.
Well, some operating systems are more prone to viruses than others, with Windows leading the pack. Despite this, antivirus software can help detect viruses, malware, and other types of cyberattacks. Being aware that our computer is vulnerable can and should put us on alert, which will encourage us to be more careful.
Having said that… yes, you should buy antivirus software if you can.
Encrypt your hard drive
When we talked about Kensington cable, we focus on the computer theft scenario. This situation can cause more problems than simply gaining access to user data.
Almost everyone has saved passwords to their devices, usually in browser settings, so they can quickly log into sites like Facebook, Gmail, and (wrongly) banking platforms.
By encrypting their hard drives, users can protect their computers from external threats that may access them physically or virtually. This method converts a physical disk or logical volume into an unreadable format that cannot be decrypted by anyone without the secret password or key that was used to encrypt the drive.
Backup your data
Data is vital for companies today as it serves as a foundation for interpreting reality and developing effective and accurate business development strategies.
We must ask the question: What if we lose the data, either due to the theft of the computer, or even if we get attacked by hackers?
Well, the most effective way to avoid data loss is the practice of making regular backups, and it can be done by removable media, external hard drives, cloud storage, and backup services. These are some common backup solutions that can save your data and give you some peace of mind.
Create a secure password
“Create a multi-character password!” – that’s the kind of talk we have with our parents. Unfortunately, the recent cyberattacks in Europe have revealed a frightening situation. Thousands of heavily compromised passwords exist within some well-known organizations. It happened with Vodafone in Portugal and Spain, for example.
For this reason, we offer you three suggestions for creating a password:
- Do not pick anything shorter than 15 characters, if possible more;
- Make sure to mix characters. By mixing up letters (upper- and lower-case), numbers, and symbols, you will increase your password’s strength and make it difficult for brute force attacks to crack;
- Make sure not to use common substitutions.
Strong password to secure your laptop: WjR49?aD*V1aB,H2
You can check the strength of your password here.
We hope that you will take the advice offered here into account, to make your life and your data more secure.
Stay safe!