Just like most of the millions
of computer users out there, I’m positive, if you peruse through my personal computer, you may run into some personal information saved there. Before the introduction of computers and its saving
capabilities, people saved important documents in files locked in file cabinets
either at home or at work. Now that computers are available to most
individuals, these physical storage (file cabinets) have converted to hard
drives on computers. Due to the convenience, like many others, I am guilty of readily embracing
the change and ‘sadly’ saving information that may be critical to my personal
life and definitely my families too. The only advantage I can say I have is
that the information is not all saved in one place and it would take some
digging around to gather the information.
Having a wife and kids in the household means that multiple
users have access to the files and information on the computer but the extent
to which they have visibility varies. If this information was lost, it would
not be as detrimental since I still believe in the traditional way of having a
hard ‘paper’ copy of important documents. I can probably get away with this
until when the entities I deal with decide to go all paperless. If on the other
hand, the information was somehow compromised, then some personal information
may be obtained and the extent of the damage would only be dependent on the
motives of the attacker. I have also backed up the content of the computer in
case of data loss.
It is scary thinking about what information can be
retrieved from our personal computers. To try to minimize the risks, I adhere
to some basic security practices like password enforcement. Having multiple users in the household means creating different user accounts to worry about and with kids, if not monitored,
the extent of exposure is immense. For any activity that requires
administrative privileges, a password is required. The kids are also not
allowed to download or open any windows that have not been sanctioned by us,
the parents. The kids use the guest account when using the computer. We also
limit the usage of the computer to certain times and they are mostly allowed
some free reign on the gaming console and tablets which don’t have any personal
information.
The steps or precautions I mentioned above are all educational and policy related measures but on the technology aspect of
protecting personal information, I ensure that all systems in the house are
patched and up to date. All computers have a paid anti-malware software installed on them
which is, in my opinion, slightly better than free versions which may miss some signatures or have a delayed span between signature updates. The subscription is up to date to ensure
updates are downloaded as they become available. Not many people know that
Windows provides a firewall; I also have this enabled in addition to the
firewall capability of the anti-virus software. For online protection, the
anti-malware software provides protection.
To ensure the weakest link doesn’t fail us, I
constantly remind my kids and wife the importance of being aware of their
surroundings and being vigilant when on the net.
In
conclusion,
I don’t think there is anything wrong with saving personal
information on a computer; we just need to take extra precaution of ensuring
this information is not compromised. My plan is to always save personal information on
an external hard drive and only expose it to systems that are connected to
the internet when I need to view that information.
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