Hackers and viruses could steal your identity or you’re your computer!
Protect yourself from them!
Hackers and viruses are constantly trying to attack computers and steal your personal information, to target advertising or spam at you or even to steal your money.
Protect yourself against hackers and attacks
You need to get yourself the best possible protection for your computer and all your other devices, including your phone. There are a huge number of malicious programmes online, and armies of hackers, and so your systems could be attacked at any time. I need to tell you about them, so you understand the risks you could face if you don’t protect yourself.
You need to do these things to protect yourself – if you don’t do them, you could find personal information is stolen and used by someone else to get money, or you could find your bank or credit card details are stolen and misused. So, this is important. You need to be careful what you do. Do you ever think about how much personal information you give away online, about what you do, think, where you go and who your friends are? Think about it – someone who can see your online activity knows what you are doing, what you are saying in emails and messages, what you look at online, what you are interested in – and what you think? Even if you use “private” services, for messages for example, the software company see what you do.
What are viruses?
These are programmes that will come onto your computer or phone from outside. They infect the computer system and put new, secret programmes onto it. Viruses usually come into your computer as an attachment to something you receive, or they will be hidden inside a document, or even download from a website you visit. When you click on the attachment or link, the virus downloads and copies itself onto your computer, and then starts to do the things the hackers designed it to do.
There are also types of viruses called Worms. These copy themselves without you even clicking on them – just reading the email opens the software.
The worst viruses are called “Trojans” – they work like the Trojan Horse in the Greek myths. They look like real and safe software, so they can hide easily. But, really, they are very dangerous, and you will probably need a special programme to get rid of them.
What do these programmes do?
Once your computer is infected, it will be taken over by the malicious software. There are some people who just write viruses to destroy computers – by deleting files, software or even physically damaging the hardware. This is pure vandalism, but if you have backups, you should not lose anything.
But most attacks are being made by organised gangs of criminals, or criminal governments. They will use viruses, and especially Trojans, to steal your personal data – your account details and passwords (so they can use your online accounts) – details of your bank accounts and credit cards. When they have these details, they can steal all the money from your accounts, or they can use your credit cards to buy products that are sent to them and then sold.
Or they could steal your whole identity. If they know your address, date of birth, tax, passport and identity card details, they will use them to open bank accounts or credit cards, then borrow huge amounts of money that they use. You won’t know anything until you start getting bills or demands for payment! And it will be very difficult to prove that you didn’t make those applications. People have lost millions this way.
They could also take over your system, and use it themselves to send out millions of emails selling fake goods or more viruses. They do this so they don’t get caught sending the emails, because you sent them with your account. You may not even know it is happening.
Have you ever had trouble logging on to your email account? Or has your email service been very slow? Or have you had strange messages saying your emails could not be delivered – and when you look at the email address, you don’t know the person? If any of these things have happened, then your email accounts could be being used by hackers.
There are also less harmless viruses and spyware programmes too, but still worrying, that record all the websites you go to, making a record of what your interests are, so they can sell the information to businesses who bombard you with spam.
So, you see, viruses can do a lot more than damage computer files. You need to protect yourself properly.
The protection you need
Your computer or mobile phone can be very vulnerable to hackers if you do not take precautions.
So, you must make sure you have proper internet security, on your phone and computers. First, you need a good firewall. This is a programme that runs all the time your computer is one, and it works like a defensive wall of a castle, protecting you against some attacks.
Then you need an anti-virus programme. You need one that doesn’t just scan your computer every day – you need one that also looks at websites you visit, checks all attachments you are emailed, and checks all your emails before you can read them.
And lastly, you need programmes to remove spyware and Trojans. The best thing here is to get specialist programmes – your anti-virus programme will do some things, but not enough.
Once you have these programmes, make sure you set them to update automatically, so they always have the latest information on viruses. If you let your protection get out of date, it won’t protect you properly, because hackers try new viruses every day. And make sure you have a good backup programme that backs up your data every night, so if a virus does delete your files, you have copies.
You also need to be careful when you are online. When looking at emails, never open any suspicious-looking emails from strangers, as they could have viruses hidden inside them (as attachments or even hidden in pictures). If you get a chain email from a friend (one that has been forwarded several times, often with jokes or videos), delete it straight away. Never click on links or open attachments if they come from someone you don’t know. Be careful on social media – Facebook links or Twitter links can have viruses too. And don’t forget, all of this applies to your phone too.
And one last thing – viruses can be spread even when you aren’t using your computer or phone. They can be spread through internet routers and even printers! When you aren’t using a device, switch it off!
WHAT TO DO – SUMMARY
Log off and switch off devices when you are not using them.
Have proper internet security software on all your machines (anti-virus, firewall, anti-adware and anti-spyware), and keep them up to date.
Have interest security on all your devices – pcs and laptops, phones, tablets
NEVER use the same password for all accounts. Use strong and different passwords for each account.
NEVER select the “Stay Logged On” or “Remember my password” options.
Never click on links or look at attachments in emails from someone you do not know.
In social media, be careful about watching videos or downloading images posted by strangers
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