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Use a strong password A strong password is your first line of defence against hackers . We hear about it all the time and yet many of us ignore the advice . Mix uppercase and lowercase . Throw in a few numbers and signs . Make it long , yet something that you can remember . Use your unique creativity .
2
Lock your screen when away Many people , when they leave their laptop or phone unguarded , don ’ t lock the screen . This is asking for someone to quickly hop onto your laptop and steal your data . We know the coworking space is full of friends and nice people , but there is no harm in just making it a habit ! If you were working at a bank , not locking your computer screen could get you fired !
3
Use a VPN As a co-worker you ’ re probably going to connect to a variety of open WiFi ’ s . This may highly expose your data to others ! You knew it right ? Whether it ’ s a free version , or you pay for it , or you are geek enough to set-up your own VPN , use it every time you get connected . Period . The most known ones are TunnelBear , HideMyAss or NordVPN but there is tons of them . Just google “ best VPNs ” and make your own call , or ask a fellow co-worker !
4
Think twice before you click Hackers are going above and beyond in creativity to create emails or fraudulent websites that look so legitimate , making 8 million people click those links in scam . Don ’ t fall prey ! Make it a habit check what is behind the link , and google the message subject to see if someone has reported an incident already if you are desperately dying to get that $ 8.000.000 you may have inherited from your uncle you have never seen .
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Encrypt your hard drive While encrypting your hard drive will not prevent your laptop from getting stolen it will help to prevent your data being accessed . Better use a more robust software solution designed for this purpose , like VeraCrypt , which is an excellent open source solution rather than relying on your operating system ’ s internal methods . Same goes for your external drives and USB sticks too !
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Set up remote surveillance If your laptop does get stolen you ’ re probably going to want to find it again . You ’ ll also probably want to remotely wipe the hard drive as well . If that ’ s the case , then Prey is a great piece of software , which allows locking your screen and wipe all your passwords remotely . Another great feature that you get with the free version is the ability to get pictures using your phone or laptops cameras so you can see who ’ s been using your device . By setting your device to “ missing ” on the Prey website you ’ ll start getting reports from your device , including pictures and geolocation information . If you decide to upgrade to the paid version , you can also remotely wipe your entire hard drive and have the ability to recover wiped files .
7
Lock it ! Losing your cash-machine ( read as : laptop !) can be devastating . Lock your laptop to a physically immovable object when away even for few minutes . That little rectangular slot on the side of your laptop is designed for this purpose !. A lock usually costs around $ 30 to $ 50 max , and Kensington has a variety of laptop locks that work with most machines .