Archives - Security Best Practice

Disable external media AutoRun and AutoPlay features

Disabling AutoRun and AutoPlay features prevents external media infected with malicious code from automatically running on your computer.

Create multiple copies of your most important data

You don’t want a system crash to destroy all of your important documents and photos. Maintain redundant backups of your data across different media types. Use cloud-based backup as well as external HDDs or even DVDs and thumb drives.

Read software licensing agreements

When you buy software digitally, there’s always a license agreement that you have to accept to complete the purchase. You don’t really have a choice if you want to use the software, but it’s worth looking at key details; for example, search for the word “sold” to determine if the product is merely being licensed […]

Don’t throw or give away a hard drive without really erasing it

When you delete something on your computer hard drive, it’s not really gone, just inaccessible through the normal user interface. To really get rid of it, you’ll need specialized software that overwrites the deleted data multiple times. Alternatively, keeping your old drives in storage instead of throwing or giving them away will also lower your […]

Create unique accounts for each user per device

Set up individual accounts that allow only the access and permissions needed by each user. When you need to grant daily use accounts administrative permissions, do so only temporarily. This precaution reduces the impact of poor choices, such as clicking on phishing emails or visiting malicious websites.

Make a non-administrator account your main account

When you use a PC or Mac, you might have multiple user accounts set up. Try to use a normal non-admin account for your day-to-day activities. That way, it’s harder for anyone to do lasting harm to your system if it’s stolen or infected while logged in to an admin account with extensive permissions.