Look after your devices

Do you share thoughts and memories, pictures of holidays, gatherings and other adventures? Do you share these things on one or more social media platforms?

After people, the next most common channel for attack and vulnerability is outdated software.

Criminals have millions of infected machines that continually scan the internet looking for devices that are vulnerable.

They use holes in software, operating systems, and communications, to push their way in through the cracks and try to execute code. Once they have a foothold there is a huge amount of damage that they can do.

These include, but are not limited to;

• Stealing your information
• Using your device without your knowledge (spread malware, attack online services, host child abuse images, mine cryptocurrency, etc)
• Damage your device (overriding safety settings, encrypting all data etc)

To avoid this you should keep your device up to date.

Install updates that are available to you for your device eg iOS, Windows, Android, Linux, or MacOS. Also, make sure you are up to date with your software and apps.

The updates often ‘patch’ security vulnerabilities that criminals use to exploit devices.

DON’T IGNORE UPDATES

Take a few minutes to make sure your device is up to date.

Other things to consider;

• Make sure you download software from reputable sources eg. the Apple App Store, Google Play, Microsoft, Amazon, Steam. (Stores that allow ‘side-loading’ are at higher risk of having infected software)
• If you are getting ‘free’ software, what are you giving the publisher in return? (they may track your location, want access to address books etc, harvesting information from you)
• Use Anti-virus & anti-malware (yes, even you MacOS users) – and scan regularly
• Avoid using portable USB storage with multiple devices
• Is information on your device backed-up somewhere?
• Is your device set to need a password/lock-screen? If not, it should be!
• Use a secure browser, think about where you are browsing to too, is it ‘legit’?