Are you tired of getting viruses on your computer? Are you exhausted because of the slow speed and poor performance of your computer?
According to an estimate millions of computers are infected everyday by removable media. Many companies are on the verge of collapsing because their employees are not handling their data properly. Today I will give you some removable media security tips that will ensure the security of your personal computer and data.
The most common removable media device being used nowadays is the USB or sometimes called thumb drives. They are small and can fit anywhere, they are portable, so you can carry them anywhere and they are very easy to use so anyone having very little knowledge about computers can use it. You can transfer GBs of data within a few minutes. Other popular devices being used are external hard drives, memory cards, rewritable CDs and DVDs. These devices are being extensively used in large companies and organizations to transfer data and information, much of which can be extremely sensitive and personal. Apart from the data, USB drives and memory cards are major contributors in spreading viruses, worms, Trojans and malicious programs.
Specially engineered viruses and trojans copy itself to the USB device as you plug it in your PC, the same virus automatically copies itself to another PC when the USB is plugged into it. So if you want to protect your computer from viruses that spread through removable media devices and you also want to protect your data that you saved in a USB or any other removable media device, then you should follow these removable media security tips:
1: Removable media devices are small, so it is very important to keep physical control over them. Always keep them in a safe place with you. Never leave your device unattended at a public place.
2: If you are storing sensitive data like business proposal or your account information, then you must keep a back up of the data that you copied in your device.
3: Keep your personal data devices separate from the business or office data devices. USBs, DVDs, CDs and memory cards all are cheap and you can afford to buy them in bulk.
4: Removable devices are sensitive and you may lose your data if you handle them carelessly. Follow proper instructions while using these devices.
5: There are numerous security software programs that you can download and use to lock your USB device or external hard drive, if you are storing sensitive data then you must use one of these software programs.
6: While storing sensitive information and personal data, you should consider the option of encrypting the data before saving it on your device. Especially when you are storing user Ids or\and passwords then encrypting the data becomes extremely important.
7: When you plug in a USB device or any other removable media device that has been used with another computer, its always a good idea to scan it with an antivirus program before opening it. Here you can find the best antivirus programs to scan the data in our antivirus reviews section.
8: Disable the autorun feature of your operating system.
Keep these removable media security tips in mind and you will keep your data secure!