Secure your computer with simple tips

Protect personal documents on your home computer

By Charles Mandel

Whether you’re at work or at home, your computer probably contains documents with personal information such as client data or sensitive household records (budgeting spreadsheets and tax calculations). These are the files you’d prefer that a stranger not see if your computer were to be lost, stolen or accessed by hackers.

“Most home users do not have the luxury of a corporate IT department ensuring the safety of their data against hackers,” says Deon Moodley, IT team leader at Rogers Communications in Toronto. “Anything from personal photos to business-critical reports is well worth storing on a computer unless you actually think about this information being stolen or lost.”

Moodley recommends using the same safety precautions at home as you would in a corporate environment to protect your files.

There are several simple ways you can protect your PC and your information from simple password protection to keeping your computer set with Automatic Updates. Take a look at the following steps to keep your PC secure at all times.

• Add a user account for each family member
• Password-protect your files
• Lock your computer when you step away from your desk
• Choose a good password

Add a user account for each family member

If your computer is used by more than one person, you may want to create individual accounts. Individual accounts protect the family computer from any sort of modifications that children might make, which could damage the system or your files, says Andy Walker, technology journalist and author of Absolute Beginners Guide to Security, Spam, Spyware and Viruses and Microsoft Windows Vista Help Desk.

In this scenario, everyone has her own password to log in and can only access her own saved files. Other users should be given a limited account without administrative privileges.

Click here for step-by-step instructions on how to add a user account.

Password-protect your files

You can also protect confidential documents and spreadsheets — such as family budgets — using password protection. “Password-protecting your files and folders is the best way to make certain that nobody accidentally or intentionally gains access to your private, personal and confidential data,” says Moodley.

To password-protect a file in Word or Excel, open the document. Click the Microsoft Office button and click Save As > Tools > General Options; type your password in the Password to open box, confirm the password, and then hit OK. When you click OK, you will be prompted to re-enter your password. Save your file. When you close and reopen it, you will be prompted to enter the password you chose.

Lock your computer when you step away from your desk

If you’re running out to do a few errands, especially while you’re at work, but you want to leave all your programs open, lock your computer. “Locking your machine is very important because it ensures the safety of your corporate and personal data,” says Moodley.

There are two ways to lock your PC. Hit Ctrl + Alt + Delete. When the Windows Security box pops up, hit Lock Computer or Switch User in the Shut Down menu. Or hit the Windows logo key on your keyboard + L. Upon returning to your desk, you will be prompted for the same password that you use to log in to your computer to continue working.

Choose a good password

Software programs, such as Password Safe, can help you keep track of all your passwords. However, it can be even simpler than that; Walker says he just writes his passwords down on paper and keeps them hidden in a file folder in his desk.

Choosing a secure password isn’t as straightforward as you might think. No one but you should know your password. Walker says a good password should be at least six characters in length, with uppercase and lowercase letters and punctuation marks or numbers mixed in.

Change your password as frequently and as conveniently as you can, he recommends. “The more frequently you change it, the less likely it’s going to be stolen, but it’s going to be harder to keep track of.”

Most notebook computers have built-in fingerprint readers that can be programmed to remember your user names and passwords and access them using your fingerprint. Microsoft has also developed a Fingerprint Reader peripheral for PCs and notebooks.

Click here for more information about Fingerprint Reader and watch a demonstration.