Protecting Yourself On The Internet

The internet can be a dangerous place and sharing personal information over social media and other internet facets can put you at risk!

So how can we stay protected in an age that feels like people already share too much? Is that Facebook status about being on vacation really going to make your home susceptible to unforeseen visitors? Maybe. Here’s a couple tips on how to protect yourself online.

1. Passwords

Use different passwords for all of your logins. While having one password can really be a breeze, it opens you up to having all of your accounts compromised, rather than just one. One account is much easier to manage than a full-blown security breach!

Also, make sure that your passwords are hard to guess and are strong. “Puppy1” isn’t cutting it anymore, so use a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols to make your password like a cryptic vault!

2. Social Media

Revealing too much about yourself on social media can be very dangerous. Reevaluate who you are friends with on these networks and be cautious sharing information that could be indicators of your password. It doesn’t take much for a hacker to get in, so stop them in their tracks and be wise in what you share.

But it's more than just a hacker that you have to worry about - it's the folks that don't post, don't share, just sort of lurk around... Are you a Facebook user - ? Are you a parent? Have you seen this site?
Take This Lollipop

Enough said.

3. Be aware

The most neglected protection tip is simply to be aware. Computers can get viruses. Cell phones can be stolen. Online accounts can be compromised. Pay attention to your online surroundings and protect yourself by being extra cautious before clicking on links or to install an internet filter or protection service.

And another thing - your computer could go kaput. Make regular backups. If you can't afford an expensive online backup program - buy an external hard drive and backup your precious family photos and files regularly - or save those special things to the cloud. (Dropbox, Google Drive - both FREE!)

The internet can be scary but don’t let it be! Just be aware and cautious and you’ll be able to enjoy it all without the worries.

Preparing For The COMPUTER Crash

In my case, it was my motherboard. GONE. Working along, tap tap tapping on the keyboard at 200 miles an hour - and BOOM. Screen goes out. Everything else appears to be working, but the screen is a gonner. Tried rebooting, never came back on. Plugged in another monitor, no bueno. Grabbed the whole get-up and ran up to Geek Squad, who informed my my machine had a motherboard who wasn't feeling quite as motherly as she once had.

So it was 'time'. I got a newer, bigger, faster (DESKTOP this time so I will stay in my office!) and began the process of computer file recovery. Which brings me too - to our newest site launch as well. Funny it all happened together.

During the process of all of this - I found the following things VERY useful. And they will be something I do - ALWAYS - from now on:

1/ Have a large external hard drive READY! and back it up on your own when you can - I have a 1.5 TB Western Digital External Hard Drive.

2/SIGN UP and USE Firefox Sync. If you are not using Firefox, please do so at this time. Then, sign up for Firefox Sync - this will remember your settings, passwords, visited sites - it's a beautiful thing. Simply sign in and it will 'repopulate' your old get-up!

3/ Save your fonts, brushes and shapes, extensions - If you use Photoshop or another design program - don't lose all you've built up. Downloading, extracting and installing these things takes forever - and especially if you've paid for them!

And finally...

4/ Save your Outlook PST file from time to time. One thing you can recover is your Outlook file. It will get you (PRETTY) close to where you were.

So - without further adieu -

WELCOME TO THE WEB - Blueline Network Solutions! They sell desktops for personal and business use, servers, network security solutions and more. I really like that they have high performance gaming desktops (for those of us who truly relish a little WOW from time to time.) as well as services - like remote backup and data storage and remote IT support.