Protect your account

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Bank accounts, email accounts, cash app accounts, social media accounts. Today it’s more important than ever to protect your all accounts as they contain very sensitive information about you. Hackers and thieves are lurking waiting for an opportunity to steal your information.

Here’s how you can protect your accounts.

  1. Don’t open emails from people you don’t know. We’ve covered this before but it’s still so important. See the blog post about Phishing.
  2. Set strong passwords. At least 8 characters including upper and lower case letters and a number. Don’t write it down and tape it on your computer because it defeats the purpose.
  3. When possible enable two factor authentication. Recently someone used my debit card to make a purchase from a well known shoe company in the amount of $170. I was so hurt. I have no idea how this happened but I went into the security settings of my bank and cash app accounts as well my email and enabled two factor authentication. Now, when I log in with my username and password, a 5 digit code is sent to my phone as well and I have to enter that before I have complete access to my online accounts.

Do what you have to do to protect your accounts today!

Back that thing up

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If you’re like me, the last decade worth of pictures, videos, music, documents and all things life are stored on your computer. What happens if your computer is lost, stolen or experiences an issue that would cause it to never come back on though?

Is your data saved in another place? It should be. Last year I experienced a hardware issue that required me to purchase a new computer. I hadn’t been consistent with backups at all and I was so frustrated with myself. However, I was able to restore old data but I was missing plenty of new stuff.

That situation was definitely a lesson learned and I’m always trying to help others learn my from mistake. Back up your data! Whether it be through the cloud or a physical drive…get it done and keep it up. You’ll be glad you did.

Speed it up!

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My family had become increasingly frustrated with our shared laptop. It was so SLOW! Even the simplest tasks took forever and would lock up if you were clicking faster than it could process. The laptop is 6 years old and I wanted to replace it but the newer models are even more expensive than the one we have and quite frankly, it wasn’t in the budget.

We tried removing old files and unused applications but that only scratched the surface. There was only one option left…upgrade the parts. After a brand new solid state drive (SSD) and a bump up in the amount of RAM it’s running like new.

While a brand new computer may seem enticing sometimes it’s just cheaper to upgrade the parts…assuming the computer isn’t too ancient 🙂

 

 

 

Help…?

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The world we live in today is all about technology. Let’s be honest though, not everyone is into it. Some people don’t understand and they just flat out don’t see the point. If that’s you or someone you know, don’t be ashamed to ask for help.

The point is not to become some type of expert in all things technology. However, you want to be comfortable performing common tasks that will get you by in today’s world.

Looking for a job? Using a computer to look through popular job search engines will get you faster results than going place to place asking if they are hiring. Once you see something you’re interested in you’ll need to apply…online. You’ll need to upload your resume which already needs to be typed up using…a word processing program.

Don’t be intimated by this. It can be learned…just ask for the help that’s needed. You’ve got this!

 

Password security

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Password protecting your devices and accounts are important. Here are some tips:

 

  • Make your passwords hard to guess but not hard enough for you to not remember.
  • Make it at least 8 characters, including an uppercase/lower case letter and a number.
  • Don’t use the same password on every site (especially not for online banking).
  • Change your password regularly (every 30 to 60 days).
  • Don’t write your password on a sticky and put it on your computer computer.

 

Beware of Phishing!

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Per Dictionary.com phish·ing (ˈfiSHiNG) is “the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.”

Phishing has always been a concern in businesses across the world. However, during times like these when everyone is focused on the pandemic and all the turmoil that comes with it, phishing has become an even greater cause for concern.  Scammers are sending out fake emails to lure you into clicking malicious links created to steal your information.

Only open emails and attachments from people you know. Question everything! If it looks suspicious just delete it and don’t “click here to claim your prize”.