Keeping Your Computer Secure

After weeks of mostly calm business travel, the computer at the hotel where I stay started acting up. The Internet connection was slower than usual. As we all guessed, the source of the problem was an infected computer on the hotel’s network.

The technicians hoped that the damage would be minimal, and they were right. The hotel stopped the hotel coder from installing an automated remote key logger that would send my credit card number to the hacker.

But even with that safeguard in place, the hotel still was not out of the woods. The hacker returned the following week, and the hotel was finally able to secure its computer network. By then, I had already made a $2,000 payment to the hacker through my credit card.

The hotel’s entire computer network was shut down for 10 days while repairs were made to all the vulnerable computers.

But none of that was enough to prepare me for the reality of what I found when I booted up my computer for the first time in three years.

I found NOTHING!

There was no Windows popping up on my screen, no email with attachments, not even my favorite greeting card service.

I couldn’t even get to my most trusted messenger services.

Hackers’ keyloggers have been smart enough to hide their tracks, making it nearly impossible to track them.

My computer was just like them — silent and dark, waiting for its next victim.

But this time, there was someone online who found me. A friend of mine who had been hacked by one of these hackers called me, feared for my password, and decided to try me out.

After all, I’d had my identity stolen before. Only this time, it was my own fault.

I was too protective of my computer. I should have known that giving out my username and password was enough to put me at risk.

So I took responsibility for my own safety. I learned that it was possible to browse safely without putting myself at risk.

Here are some basic steps to keeping your computer safe:

1) Avoid theGrab trannymylibrary html.

2) Avoid theGrab ebooks zip.

3) Avoid the adult content blocked content.

4) Fight the urge to browse that new website that has nothing to do with your age.

5) If someone asks you for your username and password, say no.

6) Whenever someone asks for your password, make sure they can’t access your account from the secondary email address they may have gained.

7) Don’t tell anyone your password.

8) Change your password on a regular basis, even if your account is hacked.

9) Consider using a service to manage your passwords like RoboForm. They allows you to take responsibility for your passwords.

10) Remember to change your password periodically, just like you would change your shoes.

Include some very simple security steps in your password. It doesn’t have to be an “x” sound and capital letters. Just be sure to do something.

including details like changing your password on different computers, or even on your shoes.

A good example is to start with a simple password like “aryanw”. Make it simple, and then add some numbers like “2thenementho3”.

When you command your computer (you probably do this every day), try saying the simple password slowly, and then saying the full version. This slows down anyone who happens to be online at the time.

Also, make sure that you can always tell when someone is trying to hack into your account by watching out for their behavior. If they are trying to do something like change something on your computer or look over your shoulder, they are probably not going to like what they find.

If you suspect that you have someone watching your computer, make sure that they are blocking other uses of your computer too. In other words, make sure that you are looking out for suspicious activities when you are online.

What I mean is, don’t start clicking on things that look suspicious. Like if you are connecting to your online banking account, make sure that the page you are placed on our pages that you normally wouldn’t click on.

Even if you are clicking on them because you know exactly what is going on, don’t do anything without first making sure that you are on the right pages. Whether you are visiting your local bank website or your credit card website, make sure that you pay for your bills through secure means.

If you are not sure that you are on the right page, type the domain name into your search bar. Make sure that you are on the pages that you want to be on by looking through your search bar. Look for anything that pops up abnormal.