Security: How to protect your digital self

Well, yesterday was a fun post after the Equifax data breach post.  Today we are back with a serious topic.  Your home computer security.  There really are some "simple" steps to take to protect your computer and data when at home.  There are strong password, security your wireless settings, updating your computer regularly.  Also, having anti-virus software on your computer is critical.

Strong passwords

This is very important if your passwords are simple they will get compromised.  You need to have a password that is at least eight charaters long with a capital letter and number.  No, Password1 is not a safe password!!  Still something like Redsox#1 or Patriots1 would be safer.  The main reason for this is the tools that hackers use take longer to crack passwords with numbers and capital letters.  They also have a harder time with long passwords.  Technically, the longer the password the safer.  Don't make your password twenty characters long because you will forget it or give yourself the chance to mistype it and lock your self out of an important website.  Some other suggestions for password safety.  Don't use the same password for your computer and websites.  Mix them up.  Change them regularly.  Finally, don't use your Social Security number, date of birth, or something basic about your self.  These tend to be easy to crack.

Wireless settings

Ugh, here we go the technical stuff!!  Not really, but this is more in-depth then I would generally go because it is important.  You need to change the default passwords to your home Wireless and the administration page of your wireless router.  To do this you need to know the address of the router.  They tend to be something like 192.168.0.1, 10.0.0.1.  To find this go to one of your devices -> settings -> Wireless -> advanced -> there should be a "IP" address that matches one of the schemes listed.   Type in the address with the .1 at the end.  This will bring you to the wireless router admin page.  The login should be on the modem.  If not you should be able to call your provider and get the settings.  You can even do a google search like Spectrum modem admin passwords.  Find your device and type in the listed username and password.  Then you will need to navigate the modem page.  Generally you will see a administrator page where you can set the administrator username and password.  Within the modem website there is also a tab where you can set you wireless settings.  This is where you will update the password for you wireless modem. 

Anti-Virus 

Anti-Virus software is very critical regardless of if you own a Apple computer or PC.  While it doesn't protect you against everything it is your first line of defense against attackers.  There are many choices, but I would recommend WebRoot.  It works well, and is always being updated.  Another one of my favorites is MalWare Bytes.  MalWare Bytes offers a free version with a fourteen day trial of the professional version.  MalWare bytes is slower than WebRoot, but is my go too when I think someone has an infection that there regular Anti-Virus didn't pick up.Many ISP's including Spectrum and Comcast offer an Anti-Virus solution with there internet product.  You just need to login to your account and download the software. 

You can get WebRoot by going to https://www.webroot.com/us/en/home.  MalWare Bytes is available by going to www.malwarebytes.com.

Let me know what you think.  Is there more you would like to know about?

Scott H