{"id":727,"date":"2016-09-02T11:00:20","date_gmt":"2016-09-02T17:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/grownuptech.com\/?p=727"},"modified":"2024-08-12T19:27:51","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T19:27:51","slug":"top-things-avoid-malware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oakwoodexperience.com\/staging\/2633\/top-things-avoid-malware\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top Things to Do To Avoid Malware"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As a tech professional, it\u2019s my job to clean up after computer \u201caccidents.\u201d But\u00a0a more important aspect of my job is keeping them from happening. There is a lot of information on the web directed at cyber safety, and most of it is good. \u00a0But there is one thing\u00a0that you can do more to keep you safe than any other single thing: Run as a non-administrative user.<\/p>\n

\"Tech<\/p>\n

I consume a LOT of news about cyber security and cyber safety. A research paper presented at a tech security conference recently showed something\u00a0interesting. The list of security tools used by non-tech professionals was upside-down from the list of tools used by tech professionals.<\/p>\n

Here are the top five things that non-experts (with regard to digital security) do to try and stay digitally safe:<\/h3>\n
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  1. Use antivirus software<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Use strong passwords<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Change passwords frequently<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Only visit websites they know<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Don\u2019t share personal information<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Those are all good things to do. \u00a0And to some extent, most security professionals do those things. However, here are the top five things security experts do, and recommend that you do:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Keep your systems and software updated<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Use unique passwords<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Use 2-Factor authentication<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
    4. Make sure to use strong passwords<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n
    5. Use a password manager<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The items with links are things I\u2019ve talked about here in my blog. \u00a0The rest of them I will address soon and show you how to put in place.<\/p>\n

      But Wait–There’s More<\/h3>\n

      The same security expert that led me to this study also has said, repeatedly, that a huge majority of exploits are coming in through the users\u2019 browsers running with administrator permissions. As a result, you should run on your computer as a standard user, and not as an administrator, for normal, everyday use.<\/p>\n

      For Windows 7, do this:<\/h4>\n

      1. Go to the Start button, click once on it, and in the box that pops up, \u00a0type \u201cUser Accounts\u201d without the quotes. In the list of items that pop up, click on the one that says User Accounts.<\/p>\n

      2. Select \u201cManage User Accounts.\u201d The computer should ask\u00a0if you want to make changes to User Accounts, or something like that. Select YES. If you see\u00a0the User Accounts dialog box immediately, you are running as an administrator. Or if you don\u2019t get a question about if you want to do it, you have User Account Control turned off\u2014and this is a BAD idea. \u00a0If you get a prompt for a user name and password, you are running as a standard (non-administrative) user. And that is a GOOD idea.<\/p>\n

      3. If you are set up as an administrative user, create another account for yourself as a standard user and use that for day-to-day use. You can use your administrator account to move or copy your documents either into the Public documents folder. There is another way to do this. Log into\u00a0your standard account once and created a standard user profile. (The profile creation happens automatically.) Copy\u00a0into that standard user My Documents folder, same for photos, videos, etc. Note: \u00a0If you are dealing with documents you absolutely cannot lose, you should have a backup anyway.\u00a0\u00a0But if you haven\u2019t backed up yet, or in a while, do a COPY of the documents, not a MOVE of them. Then, when you are certain you have all of them (by comparing the folder sizes), then you can delete the originals.<\/p>\n

      On a Mac, do this:<\/h4>\n

      In the upper right corner of the screen, click once on your name, then click on User & Groups Preferences. You\u2019ll see your name, then what type of user you are. If it doesn\u2019t say Admin, you\u2019re fine. However, if you see Admin, go ahead and create a Standard user account for yourself, and again, do the copy of the documents.<\/p>\n

      If something coming through the browser has to install to do bad things, doing this will make it ask you for permission. When something\u00a0asks\u00a0for a user name and password for something you didn\u2019t ask for, you know something is wrong.<\/p>\n

      How have your security practices changed or evolved over time? Are you afraid of some things online? What do you wish you could do better to be more secure online?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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