Personal, business and home security

Purchase a reputable anti-malware, firewall software, keep it up to date. You have it for your laptop/PC, what about your mobile devices, after all these are just as much a threat!
Ensure your firewall is switched on
If you receive emails from unknown sources be wary of the content, don’t open attachments or click on links if you are uncertain of them. Hover the cursor over the link before opening to confirm the URL is the same as what it is supposed to be.
Disable automatic file execution
Patch management – You will notice from time to time the operating system (e.g. Windows, apple IOS) will on occasion ask you to update the latest version. By updating you are “Patching” the error in the system, the error, if a security vulnerability is known as a zero day (and will continue to count) until you put the patch in place, this is leaving your system open to be exploited, only by patching do you stop this from happening.
Turn off your PC/laptop/device when not in use
Do back-ups on a regular basis
Improve your WIFI security with WPA2 AES encryption
Think about the location of your router within your home, the closer to the centre of the house the better the connectivity for every room should be and also the harder it is for someone outside the home to connect to your network.
If possible, have a separate guest network for friends and family to connect to. Remember, the threat could be in their device and once on your network it has access to your devices!
Change the name and the password of your router, chances are they will still have the default settings from when the router was purchased.
Passwords, should be passphrases. We have seen in brute force attacks how poor passwords can be broken. Having four unconnected words (or more) with as many characters as possible, over 18, is vital to protect your information.
It is also important that you protect these passphrases, don’t share them with anyone and change them regularly.
Virtual Private Network (VPN): If you’re thinking of connecting to free WIFI somewhere download a reputable VPN and connect to the WIFI via that VPN, it will keep the data you transmit secure.
Consider who you connect to on social media and what you share with them.
USB sticks – We have seen the potential threat in module 1 from these devices, consider if you really need to use them or if there is another way.
Cloud based storage solutions – Before you use them have you considered their security measures and how your privacy is being managed. Are you comfortable with it? If not look elsewhere for a solution.
If in a work environment consider and manage how personal mobile devices connect to the network, where have they been previously and what have they picked up.
If you have a website, check with the designer that it is not vulnerable from an SQL injection and that the company your website is hosted with has DDos protection.
Encryption, 2 factor authentication and vulnerability scanning are just a few key components to consider in your protection

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