6 Ultimate Ways to Keep Your Digital Data Protected

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We live in a society where everything is becoming more digital. We store personal things on our devices, such as photos, videos, and important files and documents. Unfortunately, there are many ways you can lose all of this data, such as if your device gets lost or stolen. It’s essential to take the necessary precautions to make sure your digital property is protected. Here are six ultimate ways to keep your digital data protected.

 

 

This is one of the simplest data protection tips you can follow. Creating a backup copy of your data can ensure that you still have all of your important information if your device is stolen or compromised. You can do this by transferring your media files to physical storage like a DVD or USB stick. If you’re interested in knowing more about this, here’s information on a burner for Windows. Having a backup can be particularly useful if you own a small business. The insurance company Nationwide found that 68% of small businesses have no disaster recovery plan. When data takes longer to be restored with a business, more money gets lost. By having a backup, small business owners can ensure their data is restored quickly and minimize the financial damages.

 

 

You may have heard that malware is bad, but you might be unsure why it’s bad or what it means. Malware is short for malicious software. It’s designed to damage or infiltrate your computer without your consent. Criminals use malware to access the data on your computer and steal it from you. Beyond avoiding clicking on suspicious e-mail links or websites, using an anti-malware protection software can help prevent your computer from being infiltrated by ransomware, viruses, and other types of malware. Run periodic scans for spyware, and have the settings of your anti-malware software set to warn you if the site you clicked on is a threat to your device’s safety.

 

 

It can be annoying whenever our device tells it’s time to install a new update. You have to stop in the middle of what you’re doing and wait for it to finish updating. Despite the updates being a nuisance at times, it’s critical for keeping your device protected from hacking. Most of these updates contain security patches designed to protect your laptop or computer from recently discovered threats. It’s good to set your operating system to automatically update whenever there’s a new update for you to install.

 

 

Your wireless network needs to always be secured with a password. When you have a password with your wireless network, unauthorized individuals are prevented from accessing your wireless network. Even if someone’s just trying to get free access to your Wi-Fi, there’s a risk that you can inadvertently share your private information with those who are using the network without your permission. For those who have Wi-Fi networks for the workplace, the network can be hidden by setting up a wireless router where it doesn’t broadcast the network name.

 

 

While it may sound like encrypting your data requires you to be tech-savvy, there are tools available that can make it easy for anyone to encrypt their e-mails and other information. One example is GPG for Mail. It’s an open-source plug-in that’s used for the Apple Mail program to encrypt or decrypt e-mails. If your focus is more on protecting your files, there are programs like FileVault that encrypt the hard drive of a computer. FileVault can be found on newer versions of Apple’s OS X operating system, while there are similar programs specifically designed for those who use Microsoft Windows. Your data will be scrambled by the software. Keep in mind that while your data will be protected from cybercriminals, the government can demand you give them your encryption key based on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

 

 

Sensitive data can be retrieved from your old computer devices. The way you can keep your data protected on old hard drives makes them unreadable before having them disposed of. You should first have all your data backed up and transferred to your new device. Once you’ve done that, you can make the hard drive unreadable by magnetically cleaning the disk, disk-shredding, or using software to wipe the disk clean.

 

With so much of our important possessions being stored on devices now, it’s necessary to take precautions with protecting our personal data. Failure to do so can be emotionally or financially damaging. Be sure to follow these tips to keep your personal data protected.