2015 – Your IT New Years Resolutions? – 15′
2015 – Your IT New Years Resolutions? – 15′
Happy new year all. And upon reflection for 2014, it was quite an extraordinary year where IT is concerned. It was the year that Facebook came under extreme scrutiny for collecting private data on its users, indeed we’ve all seen those wishful Facebook statuses “I hereby declare that I DO NOT allow Facebook….etc……etc – yea, that doesn’t achieve anything for the record. We saw delivery companies testing flying drones to deliver packages, we used computers to land robots on asteroids in distant parts of our solar system, we saw Sony Pictures held to ransom by North Korean hackers, we heard stories of allegedly airplane “spoiling” or hacking, we saw terrorists openly using social media, all in all it was a ludicrously bizarre year for IT.
The fact of the matter is that things are only going to stray further into what was previously a fictional domain. And yet, despite the fact this is 2015, despite we can theoretically put people on Mars, everyday PC users are still making security errors in their IT upkeep that belong in 1998.
The internet in particular is not a new technology now. It should be fair to say people have had ample time to get used to the internet pitfalls and a rough understanding of how it all works. Particularly how an email from someone you don’t know that is titled “YOU ARE THE WINNER OF A BRAND NEW BMW 5 SERIES – CLICK HERE” is probably about as sincere an entity as Piers Morgan. But this isn’t just it. Its amazing to see not only this, but users who have been using computers for years, repeating the same mistakes time and time again.
In truth whilst the criticism might be a touch harsh as there are always new viruses to be aware, it really only takes a person 15 minutes of reading up on the many millions of articles on viruses and how they work to provide a sense of perspective and reality to how viruses actually function and can get on to your computers indeed Grasp have made a few on this very site. Yes, in an ideal world, your antivirus would capture all the nasties that creep their way on to your systems and YES there are many varieties of viruses that can befall a computer. BUT, your antivirus can’t stop you launching an executable file named “Ultimate PC Cleaner Utility” that you sourced from a questionable website, it has limitations.
Perhaps it would be prudent at this point to put a bit of perspective on the matter. Unfortunately IT does not come with an all encompassing manual or singular way to use your IT. And there are viruses which even the most experienced IT professional could inherit, such is its devious method of finding its way onto a computer. But, in closing, we feel in 2015, the residing new years resolution should include simple steps to keep you secure – Make sure you have an antivirus installed (there is always one installed by default), keep your antivirus updated, perform regular scans (most antivirus packages do this automatically), educate yourself on viruses and how the work, learn how your antivirus software functions and try not to open those questionable emails with the questionable attachments. Ultimately viruses and hackers have limitations also, and it is important to know what these are.
Grasp is always here to assist you if you feel your computer has been exposed to a security risk.
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