Your personal information is valuable. Your name, contact details to your financial data and online habits, all these can be used to impersonate you, steal your identity or track your behaviour without your consent.

Upholding your privacy is about safeguarding your digital identity and maintaining control over your own data.

Antivirus or antimalware software is a program that helps protect your computer or device from harmful software like viruses, spyware, ransomware and other threats.

 Antivirus or antimalware is usually already built-in with computers, laptops and mobile devices, like Microsoft Defender is pre-installed with Windows 10 and 11.

Antivirus or antimalware software:

• Stops viruses or malware before they can harm your files or device
• Scans downloads and websites for danger
• Warns you about suspicious activity on your device
• Helps keep your personal information safe

Make sure your antivirus is turned on and up to date even if it is preinstalled.

When installing antivirus or antimalware programs, ensure the following to maximize security;

1. Download and install the program from the official website
2. Remove conflicting software. If you already have an antivirus program installed, remove it first before installing the new program
3. After installation, update the program to detect the latest virus definitions
4. Run an initial full scan

A backup is a copy of your important files (like documents, photos, or emails) that is saved somewhere else, like on an external hard drive or in the cloud.

Backups are important because if your device is lost, damaged, or hacked, even if your files have been deleted or locked by ransomware or viruses, you have a copy of your important files that you can quickly restore.

Try the 3-2-1 backup method. By keeping three copies of your data (your main files plus two backups), storing them on two different types of media (like an external hard drive and cloud storage), and maintaining one offline copy (protected from ransomware and hackers), you create multiple layers of protection.

This means if your computer fails, you have local backups; if physical disaster strikes, your cloud backup remains safe; and if malware attacks, your offline copy stays untouched. Simple to set up yet incredibly powerful, this approach gives you complete peace of mind knowing your precious photos, documents, and work files are permanently secure no matter what happens to your devices.

Having a backup is like a spare key – if you lose the original, you still have a way to get back in.

Updating your devices and the software and apps you use on those devices means installing the latest version to fix problems, add new features and improve security.

It is important to update your devices and software, and it helps keep your devices and software running smoothly and safely.

Updating your software and devices:

• Fixes security bugs that attackers could use
• Improves performance and stability
• Adds new features and tools
• Fixes glitches and errors in older versions

If you don’t want to keep checking for another update to your device or software, consider turning on automatic updates. Automatic updates mean your device or apps download and install updates themselves, without you needing to check or do anything.

Passwords and passphrases are a common method for keeping your online accounts, personal information and data secure. They are important because they are the first way to protect your information.

A password is a string of characters usually around 10 characters long and contains a combination of special characters, letters, and numbers.

A passphrase is more secure than a password in that it uses four or more random words as your password.

For example, buai-daka-kambang-spetim. The longer your passphrase, the better, as attackers can easily guess short passwords with very little effort or time. Using spaces and punctuation makes your passphrase harder to guess.

Using a passphrase is easier to remember and harder to crack. Instead of using passwords, try using a passphrase instead.