The most important thing to protect your devices, computer systems and data from hackers is secure pc software. Hackers (also known as cybercriminals) hack into your computer or other device for a variety of reasons, such as stealing, altering and deleting data you consider valuable. Hackers are malicious unlike other thieves who may utilize stolen items for legitimate purposes. They are most concerned about having access to sensitive data that is not authorized. This could happen before you even realize there is something wrong.
The three most important steps to secure pc software include passwords, firewalls and virus protection. If you follow these best practices, your computer will be significantly less likely to be compromised by hackers, malware or ransomware (software that locks your data and requires payment to unlock it).
Change the name of the administrator account. Be sure to choose an effective password that has upper- and lowercase letters, numbers and computer symbols. Do not use a short password, like 1234, because hackers are able to use automated tools to break easy-to-guess passwords in minutes.
Update your operating system and other software. Most software updates include security patches that help guard against hacking. Install all patches and set up automatic updates if available, to minimize the time board web-based gathering you are vulnerable to hackers.
If you own an laptop or any other portable device, ensure that the drive is secure even when it's not in use. This is especially important for UF Students. You can enable encryption in Windows by opening Settings > Update and security > Device encryption. This will encrypt your entire internal drive and a majority of external drives, like SD cards.