I had a client recently asked me about a flaw in Windows 10 that makes it vulnerable to worms.
He asked me if there's anything you could do. Ofcourse there's a lot you can do. If the news got
word of it, Microsoft for sure knows about it and is already working on a fix, if not already
has a fix for it, since they have programmers working 24/7 on the security of the software.
The short answer is staying on top of Windows updates. However, I'm gonna cover the top five
things you need to do to protect yourself against hackers exploiting these vulnerabilities. Coming up.
First off, you should know there are always vulnerabilities being detected, every day.
I have a link to a page on my website in the description below the video here that also links
to websites for looking up what vulnerabilities exist on certain software programs with certain versions.
This is what hackers reference to learn what to attack in your system. So don't
get caught up in the news. If you're waiting for the news to tell you, then it's already too late.
So here's my top 5, but stick around at the end for a quick bonus tip.
Number one, Windows updates.
So although it sounds straightforward, it should be automatic, they require rebooting of your computer
and checking again for updates, because there could be an update every day for a week and then nothing for the next week.
and if you're running a business you should be on a preventative maintenance system, like TwinBytes offers.
Linked in the description below as well. This includes patch management. So what is patch management?
Well it's just a fancy word for managing Windows updates or patches. So having a company manage this for you takes away
the stress and you can focus on your business instead. But something important to know about
Windows updates if you're doing them yourself, is that they are granular. Which means certain updates
you won't receive until after the other updates are done first and the computer's rebooted. So if
you ever noticed that you had updates and it said they're done after rebooting, don't trust that's it.
Reboot, check again immediately if you want to be sure that you are fully updated.
Number two, update third-party software.
Adobe, Google, Mozilla, Intuit, Sage, and many others. Their updates and their update procedures vary.
But usually if you go to the about, in the main menu of that program, there'll be a link to check for updates.
If you use our Avast CloudCare product, it has a convenient method of checking for those software updates on most of the programs.
Number three, replace or remove unsupported software.
For example Windows Live Mail. That's been discontinued for a long time
and I've been recommending Mozilla Thunderbird to a lot of my clients
and many of them have made the switch and they are really happy with that. It's another free program.
So you're switching from a free program to another free program. But it offers a pretty smooth transition to convert everything over.
So it's important to stay on software that's still supported. There's always an alternative to every software program out there.
If there's no more updates for a program, it doesn't mean it's up to date. It could mean it's unsupported. So it's best to
have your computer checked out every six months to a year. Even if for personal use. If you have
no clue what to look for and you only use it for personal use, get an annual inspection.
Especially if you do any online banking or use your credit cards online to shop. The tech can review what
software you have installed and recommend if anything should be removed or replaced
Number four, antivirus and firewall, and yes this is not number one in the list for a reason.
It's not the first line of defense, but it's not the last either. It depends on the method of attack.
So the antivirus protects you from viruses, not hackers. It's important to know this.
Hackers exploit vulnerabilities, and viruses are only one method that they use to exploit that vulnerability.
Mainly they use trickery and get you to click on links to open the door for them and this brings
me to my next point.
Number five. Careful what you click.
Hackers use reverse engineering, social media research, and other methods to hack you.
What may be surprising to you is that not all hacking methods is truly hacking. It's intelligent research and gathering information.
Looking for the weakest link in the network. For example, if I ask you to let me know what you think is a strong password in the comments below?
Would you comment it? Do you think it's safe to write such a thing in the comments?
You wouldn't be telling me your password, you're just telling me maybe it's your dog's name plus a year you got him.
So not a big deal. Well I could look you up probably on Facebook and see a picture of you with your dog talking about him.
His name, when you got him, lots of other information. So it's not very hard to figure out your password from there.
Because so many people use those type of passwords. So careful how much information you share online.
Hackers love this. That's why celebrities get hacked so often. They share so much information, plus the
paparazzi gathering Intel for them. So the hackers thank you for gathering this information for them.
Makes their jobs so much easier. So that's it for my top 5 things you can do to reduce the chances
of getting hacked. Now here's your bonus tip. If you're running a business you should educate
your staff on all that's mentioned in this video. Maybe share this video with them and hire a local
security expert such as TwinBytes to come in and educate them on how to identify scam emails
and other things like that. For at home, tell all your family members about this so they can
be safer. All it takes is one person either at home or the office to click on a bad link and
welcome a hacker into their network. Once they're in they can spread through the network and bring
the entire network down, steal information and spread on to other computers. So even getting a
virus at home and it's on your laptop or tablet or smartphone and then you go to the office and
connect to the network there. You just brought the hacker into that network now and they can
spread and continue the mayhem.
That's it for this video. If you liked it give it a thumbs up. If you haven't subscribed already please do
and show your support so I can continue to make these free videos for you.
Thanks again and we'll see you again in the next video. Bye for now