Computer Security - Whether personal or public computer is a must. Most of us have PCs close to us, almost every time. This is not the case when you travel, though. In some way or another, you may be forced to use a public computer on the go. This could be at the airport or when you don't have access to your laptop or smartphone. To make matters worse, you can go without an internet connection in some places, and the only way to do it is to get stranded in public internet cafes. We all know that public computers are never really as secure as personal - and, computer security is something tougher than you might think.
Therefore, you should follow some safety tips while using public computers. Otherwise, you may end up losing your data, privacy and money. Most of these tips are deceptively simple. However, they can have a big impact as far as your privacy Latest Mailing Database is concerned. Here, we've come up with a list of some must-follow computer security tips. As a matter of fact, you probably know a lot of these. However, we should all take a real, conscious effort to follow these steps to achieve the highest possible privacy and security.
#1. From the record in the chorus, as far as possible
Most websites now offer personalized versions - whether it's your bank's website or your favorite newspaper. There are benefits that you may have that you ignore on public computers. If you can log in normally to access a particular service, it's highly recommended. By refraining from logging in, you actually reduce the possibility of loss of privacy and data theft. If you leave any tracked, what will get hacked?
#2. Never forget to log out of any
This is the golden rule of thumb for using public computers; whatever the purpose is. You may have logged into several services and websites, but it is necessary to log out of them. All you may need is the habit of closing windows using your personal device. That's the worst thing you can do if you're on a public computer. The user can then access your account, especially if you have enabled the "Stay signed in" option. So, the next time you use the airport computer, double check that you've logged everything out.
#3. Just disable the "save password" feature
Today, every web browser comes with a feature to save your login credentials, including username and password. The problem is, some browsers may collect this information automatically. Well, you may see a prompt, but ignoring the prompt will automatically save the credentials. As you can guess, this can get you in all kinds of trouble. So, if it is necessary to log in to the web service, make sure you do not have the save password option enabled.
#4. Get rid of temporary internet files
We gave this advice when you want to clear junk files from your Windows computer. We also tell you that it's a great way to protect your privacy. So, once you've finished using your public computer session, you must clear all temporary Internet files. These files include cookies, passwords and other scripts that can be used to track you down. Every web browser provides this option and you can easily find it.
For example, if you are on Google Chrome, you can go to the Settings tool to clear browsing data. In the next popup, you have to select the data you need to clean. We recommend that you clear everything such as browsing history, download history, cookies and other plugin data, cached images and files, passwords, autofill form data, hosted app data and media licenses. Even better, the next time you're on a public computer, stick to private browsing - incognito, if you're using Chrome.
By going to the micro server for private visits, you get rid of the problem of being tracked too. In other words, you leave no trace on the public computer to be seen. If the data is cleared after a simple process of system restart, you can make things super safe.
#5. Say No to Financial Transactions
This is never recommended if you are doing online financial transactions on a public computer. In fact, you have to be careful, even on your own personal device. So, things become more vulnerable if you have thousands of people using one computer. There are many possible reasons why you should avoid these financial transactions. First, the computer may use some hardware or software based key recording system to keep your information. This means your credentials can be theirs in seconds.
The same goes for credit card transactions. Using the same keylogging method, hackers can collect a lot of information about your payment methods. There's also a catch when you're doing credit card-based payments. Some browsers are now equipped with options to save credit card information for later use. This feature can be abused by hacking or stealing your information. Also, there is no guarantee that you are accessing the website through a computer that is genuine. Public computers can easily be spoofed by victim DNS.
With all of this in mind, it's safe as long as you stop yourself from online transactions on public devices. You might lose something, but it's better than splitting your entire bank account.
#6. Never download anything
When you download something, you have to leave the tracking marker. Therefore, for advanced security, it is recommended not to download anything to a public computer. You may have downloaded a simple email attachment, but it may contain sensitive information. Nowadays, even your full email ID is not enough to cause trouble. So, even if you download something from the web, make sure you permanently remove it from the PC for purpose.
Another safe way is to preview via the email service itself. If you're in Gmail, you don't need a third-party desktop app to open the document. Very easily, you can open almost any file in e-mail web page. It's wonderful because of what you're going to download. There is another advantage if you are blocking yourself from downloading files from the Internet, especially if you are on a friend's computer. You're actually helping the PC stay faster - you know; fewer files means less lag.
#7. Check who's around you
There is another way how hackers collect your private information - by paying close attention. Unless you have a higher typing speed, people can easily understand what you are typing. He/she just needs to watch the movement of the fingers. So, if you value your privacy, you need to make sure no one is snooping on your online activities. At the very least, you must know that there is no one behind you. By looking over your shoulder, anyone can understand what you're typing.