While your operating systems can be replaced, your data is often the most valuable thing on a computer. It will store everything – your personal information, photos and videos, for example. It will also house your credit card or bank information, which could become vulnerable to identify theft. You must therefore strive to keep your files safe as much as possible. Find out how to successfully protect your data.

Backup Your Data Regularly

The best way to prevent data loss is to back everything up on a regular basis. How often you backup should be determined by how much data you can afford to lose if your computer crashes. Consider using an external hard drive or cloud computing service to effectively backup your valuable data.

Set File Permissions

Keep your files away from prying eyes by setting file permissions on your data. It is possible to share permissions for data on a network share, which will allow you to determine the users that can or can’t gain access to your important files.

Password Protect Your Documents

Microsoft Office allows you to password protect individual documents to keep them away from eavesdroppers. Anyone wanting to open the document must therefore enter the password. What’s more, you can set an encryption type before sharing it with others, so it is safe when you’re sent via an unsecured network, such as the internet.

Disk Encryption

Disk encryption locks the content of a disk drive, which will be transparent to the user. The data will be encrypted automatically once it has been written onto a hard disk, but it will be decrypted automatically once loaded into memory. The programs can often store invisible containers, which serve as a hidden disk within a disk, and only external users will see the data from one disk. You can use a disk encryption on a removable USB drive or flash drive. In some cases, you can create a master password, as well as a secondary password that grants users with lower rights.

A Cautious Attitude

Cybercriminals look for vulnerabilities in a person or company’s network to gain access to their operating system and data. Unfortunately, human error often poses the biggest risk to your data as it is easy to click on a harmful ransomware, trojan or virus link, which could be sent to you via an email phishing scam. Download files with caution, and never click on a suspicious link that could damage your computer’s health and sensitive data.

Hard Drive Recovery

The files might no longer be available on your computer, but that doesn’t mean they will disappear off your hard drive. For this reason, before disposing of your computer you should consider a recovery specialist who can retrieve lost data and ensure you always have secure data. This means your files do not fall into the wrong hands once you have thrown away an old computer or mobile device.

Do you have any top tips for protecting your data? Share your tips by writing a comment below. x