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How to Prepare Your Computer For a Power Disturbance

With hurricanes comes vicious and persistent power outages. Computers, particularly desktops, can be vulnerable to many power hiccups.

It’s hurricane season!  While autumn usually brings cold weather and falling leaves, it can also leave us vulnerable to the vicious hurricanes that often sweep up and down the east coast.  Even as Hurricane Matthew dissipates up north, we are now currently in the most active hurricane season since 2012, and the deadliest since 2005.  And with hurricanes comes vicious and persistent power outages.  Computers, particularly desktops, can be vulnerable to many power hiccups.  Here’s how you can protect them.

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What is Malware and How Can I Protect Myself?

Just the word “malware” sounds bad. That’s for a pretty good reason. Malware can do some serious damage if hackers manage to somehow get it on your computer. Most people store important information or their computers that they wouldn’t want anyone else getting ahold of – malware can provide hackers and thieves with this type of information. Think of all of the passwords you use on a daily basis. Do you access your bank account from your computer? With malware and spyware, hackers can see your password and gain access to your accounts. It’s pretty scary. Learning a little bit more about how malware works and what you can do to protect yourself may give you some peace of mind if you take the advice to heart.

What is malware?
Malware is a program that you (unwittingly) install on your computer that allows others access to your information. Though you never plan to install malware or do it on purpose, you’ll find that sometimes simply clicking the wrong link can install malware. Once it’s there, that’s it. Unless you find it early enough, you’re probably going to find yourself in a tough situation and detecting it isn’t easy. You probably won’t have an idea that what you’re clicking on is spam and you likely also won’t know exactly how the malware got on your computer once you figure it out.

How can I protect myself?
There are a few things that you can do to make sure that you don’t end up with malware on your computer. First and foremost, make sure you keep it up to date. Most companies that manufacture computers and operating systems stay on top of the most prevalent scams and make patches to prevent against hackers each time they break through. You should also be careful about what you click on when you’re on the Internet. If you’ve been using the Internet for a while, you probably know that already. If you don’t know what something is or if it looks suspicious, don’t click on it. You should also invest in some software that can detect malware or help prevent it.

If you own a business, one of the best things that you can do to protect yourself is to outsource your IT. A company like Working Nets can help you to figure out if there’s something suspicious going on and keep you up to date on the latest malware scams so that you know what to avoid. At Working Nets in Baltimore, we support your business by providing top-notch Information Technology (I.T.) services to companies like yours: Companies that don’t need full-time I.T. services, but do need someone to turn to, when they are having a problem.  If you have any questions about malware please contact us at 443.992.7394 or visit our website!

At Working Nets, our focus is on your needs!

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Source: http://safeandsavvy.f-secure.com/2011/01/20/how-to-protect-from-malware/#.U3aMGfldXTo