BitTorrent is a popular way to download content from the internet. It comes with many risks, though, including bandwidth throttling by your ISP and possible malware infection. Use alternatives or, at the very least, guard your activity with a VPN.

Many malware variants are stored in RAM, meaning that once you reset the device in question, they disappear. This was the case for the VPN Filter malware that affected many routers. Reboot regularly to stay safe.

A type of malware that disguises itself as a normal file to trick a user into downloading it in order to gain unauthorized access to a computer.

The recent VPN Filter malware revealed the abundance of security issues in many of the Internet routers we rely on every day. One vulnerability you can close right away involves universal plug and play (UPnP), a service for automatically configuring some devices on the network. Turn it off unless you’re sure you need it.

Private browsing is a good way to keep browsing history secret and avoid cluttering your machine with cookies and temporary files. However, it’s not a security measure per se – you can still be spied on and hit with malware infections while nominally incognito. Combine private browsing with antivirus software and other protective measures.

A program that spreads by first infecting files or the system areas of a computer or network router’s hard drive and then making copies of itself. Some viruses are harmless, others may damage data files, and some may destroy files entirely.