Upgrade your security for 2019

With Christmas comes a mountain of gifts and there’s a high chance some of them might be new digital devices. If you receive a brand new phone or a handy tablet, you need to make sure it’s protected from the minute you set it up. Have a read through our handy checklist to see how to ensure that all of your technology is safe.

Refresh all of your passwords

Though it’s easy for you to use the same password (or variations of one) for all of your devices, it makes the possibility of you being hacked much more likely, as once someone has access to one of your accounts, they can try their luck at getting into your others with the same details.

The best thing to do is use different passwords for all of your accounts and technology, and make sure each one uses a combinations of symbols, numbers, and capitalisation, as this makes them harder to crack. For an extra level of security, change them on a regular basis.

Stay wary of scams

Some scammers increase their activity during the Christmas period, as they know people are more likely to make several purchases that they can’t keep track of and may respond to an email that isn’t quite safe.

When ordering online, keep a record of everything you’ve bought, where it came from, and how much it cost. That way, if you receive an email that claims to be regarding one of your recent purchases, you can be sure whether or not it’s honest by checking all of their information against your own. If it’s a particularly sophisticated scam and you’re still not sure, check the email address of the sender and keep an eye out for spelling mistakes – this is one of the easiest ways to tell when an email isn’t what it claims to be.

Protect all of your devices

Protecting your laptop is great, but if you don’t extend that protection to all of your tech devices, your vigilance could all be for nothing. Run regular reports on the status of your laptops and computers and make sure that you have a reliable antivirus software installed that won’t let anything dodgy into your system.

When it comes to phones and tablets, only download apps and content from trusted websites such as the App Store or the Play Store – allowing content from anywhere else into your mobile device can lead to stolen information and serious software issues.

Keep everything up to date

Most people have their devices set to update automatically, saving them the responsibility of having to remember to do it regularly. However, this can be disruptive, when updates start whilst you’re in the middle of working on something or watching a show. Choosing an automatic update for the middle of the night usually works best.

If you’ve chosen to update your devices manually whenever you see fit, create reminders so that it doesn’t slip your mind. Being behind on computer or handheld updates can mean that your devices start to run more slowly, or won’t be able to handle any new apps that you decide to install.