Use licensed software on your computer Unlicensed software procured from untrustworthy sources could have malicious programs such as virus or trojans that may damage your computer by corrupting your files or may reveal your confidential data such as passwords of your various accounts, Credit/Debit card numbers, etc without your knowledge to the owner of that software.
Do not allow unauthorised access to you computer Unauthorised access to your computer could lead to compromise of your confidential data stored on your computer.
Protect your computer accounts with strong passwords Computers identify its users based on usernames and passwords unlike humans. Use strong passwords to secure your computer accounts from being compromised or misused and follow good password management practices such as:
Keep alphanumeric passwords with length of minimum 8 characters. You can use phrases in sentences such as "nature's wrath tsunami" to frame your passwords as they are easy to remember and difficult to crack.
Do not use dictionary based words or your personal information such as name of your spouse or child or your date of birth etc as passwords, because they are easy to crack or guess.
Do not keep same passwords for multiple accounts.
Maintain confidentiality of your passwords.
Do not write down your passwords.
Do change your passwords once in every three months.
Update your computer with latest security patches Install latest security patches for your operating system and other components like browser, email client, etc as released by your computer's operating system vendor. Keep your computer updated periodically of security patches and protect your computer from intrusions.
Use anti-virus, anti spyware and personal firewall Computers connecting to internet face a variety of threats from the internet such as infections from malware such as viruses, trojans, spyware, adware, etc that may affect the security of user computers in terms of corrupting files, system failures or transmitting user confidential data to hackers or fraudsters without the knowledge of the user. Hackers can take control of user systems by intrusions and misuse them to launch malicious attack on other systems, conduct illegal activity, gain access to your confidential information, etc. Protect your computer from malware by installing anti-virus and anti-spyware software and keep it updated with the latest signature files. Use personal firewalls to protect your computer from intrusions by hackers on the internet. Do switch off / disconnect your computers from internet when not in use.
