Category: Guide

What to do:

• Disconnect your computer from the internet
• Shutdown and remove the hard drive
• Scan the drive for virus, spyware and malware using another computer
• Backup your personal files
• Reinstall your hard drive into your PC, then reformat it.
• Reinstall the OS and install updates
• Install anti-virus and anti-malware software and install updates
• Install your applications and install updates
• Scan your backups for viruses
• Restore your backups
• Make a complete backup of this fresh system

Why do it?
These are the steps needed to “un-zombify” your PC. More research may be needed on your part to find out how to perform some of the steps above according to the type of PC or notebook you have. You could also hire someone to do this for you, preferably someone you trust.

What to do:
Perform a “Factory Reset” on mobile devices before selling or giving them away. Notebooks and PC’s should be disposed off after the hard drive has been low level formatted, or has some holes drilled into them, or both.

Why do it?
There have been cases of compromising personal information being recovered from disposed devices – anything from names, addresses, banking information and collections of inappropriate content. Mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads and Androids give their owners the facility of performing a factory default reset which deletes all content puts the device into the same configuration as when it left the factory.

PC’s may not have this same facility available. If you can perform a low level format (to get rid of the old data) and do a system restore before giving it away, that is great. Otherwise, the easy way is to pull the hard drive out of the box and drill some holes in it. A sledgehammer would also work and is very therapeutic.

What to do:
Turn off Bluetooth on your device if you’re not using it.

Why do it?
Bluetooth is useful for connecting to speakers, headsets, mouses, and other devices. It can also be an entry vector for unwanted devices and malware.

Keep Bluetooth disabled until you need to connect to a device, this will also reduce drain your battery.

What to do:
Enable encryption from your OS (such as Microsoft BitLocker or Apple FileVault) for your PC. Similar settings may be found on iOS and Android mobile devices.

Why do it?
Even if you set a password on your device, attackers can still get access to your private files and documents. They can do this by booting into their own operating system from a special disc or USB flash drive and reading the data from your hard drive.

What to do:
A PC that’s not switched on cannot be hacked into, and if already compromised, cannot be used by the attacker to download info from it, or spend it’s idle time being part of a botnet.

Why do it?
Also, if your main PC is a notebook then turning it off and removing the power plug from it will save your battery from unnecessary charging and performance deterioration.

Regular PC restarts are recommended to allow your Windows (or other operating system) to clean up open files, get rid of temporary files, and update itself.

What to do:
Use a RFID blocking wallet, purse, bag, or use RFID blocking sleeves to prevent mobile RFID skimming.

Why do it?
Have you seen a person gain access to his office by just touching his wallet to the card reader, or a lady get on the metro by tapping her purse on the ticket gantry? Similarly, a person armed with a mobile RFID reader can skim the data off your credit card in your back pocket or purse.

A RFID blocking wallet, clutch, or individual RFID blocking sleeves can prevent that. I have found that you don’t need to put the cards into the sleeves. Merely having these sleeves slotted into the wallet as the outermost layer will prevent your cards from being read.

What to do:
Put some black electrical tape over the camera on your computer notebook/laptop/tablet/mobile phone.

Why do it?
There have been cases where malware on a computer gave an attacker access to the camera, and compromising pictures of the user have been remotely taken.

I currently have tape over my notebook computer and tablet device, but not my phone.
Sure you could buy a fancy one, but tape will do. Just remove for any video conferencing calls you have to make or selfies you have to take, then replace it.

What to do:
Perform a Facebook Security Checkup once every 6 months

Why do it?
Facebook’s Security checkup will help you with an audit of which apps have access to your Facebook account, and log out of them if they are no longer used or needed. You can also get alerts when someone tries to log into your account from an unrecognised device.

Start here

What to do:
Set your PC, tablet and mobile device to download and apply updates automatically.

Why do it?
Software isn’t perfect. Sometimes security holes exist that are found and exploited by hackers. Cybercriminals look for cracks in the security of programs and use these vulnerabilities to gain access to your device. With this access, they could enable a keylogger to track what you type, steal confidential information, or even install ransomware to lock you out of your files and demand payment for access. Software developers generally fix the problem and issue a patch as soon as they find out. If your machine isn’t patched, then it is vulnerable to that flaw. The longer you wait to install the update, the longer your system is at risk.

Similarly, when a software developer says that they will stop support for a piece of software (e.g. Microsoft ceased support for Windows XP in 2014) it means any security flaws found after the date would not be patched.

Recommend that you do not use a device with outdated or unpatched software.

How do I check for software updates?
Any device that runs software, be it a computer, tablet, or even a smart tv, can release updates. Most software will prompt you when an update is available, but it’s good practice to check periodically. Here is a general guide to checking for updates on common platforms:

Mac System Updates (for macOS Catalina)
1. Open the Apple menu and select About this Mac.
2. Click Software Updates….
3. If any are available, you will have the option to install it.

Windows System Updates (for Windows 10)
1. Open the start menu and select Settings.
2. Select Update&SecuritySettings then select WindowsUpdate.
3. Click Check for Updates. If any are available, you will have the option to install it.

iOS Updates
1. Open the Settings app and tap General.
2. Tap SoftwareUpdate.
3. If any are available, you will have the option to install it.

Android Updates (for most devices running Android 10 or higher)
1. Open the Settings app and go to the System section.
2. Tap About Phone. (If this is not an option, skip to step 3.)
3. Tap System Updates.
4. Tap Check for Update. If any are available, you will have the option to install it.

What to do:
Install apps only from official app stores and official websites.

Why do it?
Fake apps or apps downloaded from other sources can contain malware and lead to theft of personal data or slowing down of your device, or both.

Avoid installing apps from prompts like this.