| How to Repair a Bad Reputation Posted: 21 Jan 2017 04:00 PM PST Damaged reputations may not be easy to recover or repair. This is why it's so important to protect your reputation. Sometimes, the loss to your reputation is no fault of yours and sometimes it's your own mistake. Getting your good name back is not always easy – but it can be done with patience, determination, and perseverance. EditGetting Rid of a Bad Reputation - Accept that people might not forget. They may care less with time, but still remember. This doesn't mean fixing your reputation is impossible. Bad reputations are always potentially temporary. It all has to do with time. After some time, people stop caring so much about what you did in the past.
- Many people encounter their own failures and the failures of others over time. These stand out more, and they forget about you. Remember that you remember your own failures better than other people. Your bad reputation may be worse in your head than it is in the eyes of others.
- Research shows that, contrary to popular perception, when compared to other means of social evaluation, reputation matters measurably less than other factors.[1]
- Go off the grid and take a break from social media and online.[2]
- Talk to people about it. Be frank when addressing the issues surrounding your bad reputation. If you are calm, respectful, and genuinely concerned, they are likely to help you. By not verbally addressing the problem, you let people's imaginations run wild, and you give rumors free-range. [3]
- If someone is actively spreading news of your bad reputation, talk to them first.
- Ask friends their opinion on the matter.
- Try not to be defensive.
- Turn it into a strength.[4] Maybe your bad reputation is a superpower in disguise. Take some time to think about how your bad reputation may be a positive thing and reframe your perception of the situation. You might not be promiscuous, you could be in charge of your sexuality. If people think you play a sport too aggressively, maybe you're your team's heavy artillery.
- Change how others think. Sometimes you just need to control the perceptions of others. They may not be seeing the situation in the right light. If you can, help others to see the situation in an entirely different light.
- Provide a calculated positive perspective. This means finding ways to reframe events and actions that give you a bad reputation.[5] For example, sometimes people shame promiscuous behavior, while others present promiscuity as "owning your sexuality" or being "sex positive." Think of ways you can help people see your actions in a new light.
- Be aware that you may not be able to sway everyone's opinions.
- Denounce accusations as lies. You may just need to say the reputation is not true. If you have been lied about, it may take some time to undo the damage. Be assertive[6] (not aggressive), and make sure you spread the word as soon as possible. Ask other people to help set the story straight. The longer this bad reputation exists, the harder it may become to manage it.
- Clarify any misunderstandings.
- Be vocal when challenging lies.
EditDeveloping a Good Reputation - Do good deeds consistently. A quick way to improve your reputation is to do good deeds. Be careful: if you've recently developed a bad reputation, you might seem desperate or like you're overcompensating by doing a bunch of good deeds. This isn't a quick fix. You must do good deeds consistently for your reputation to improve, otherwise you risk seeming insincere. [7] It is hard and time consuming to build a reputation, but quick and easy to ruin it. Consistency is crucial to firmly establishing your reputation.
- Get your co-workers coffee, or offer to pick up a shift if they need time off.
- Offer your friends help, like a ride or a hand before they need to ask.
- Go out of your way to make sure people are feeling okay if you sense there might be something wrong.
- Volunteer. There are a great number of ways to volunteer your time. Care for the elderly or disabled, community gardens and events, as well as church-centered opportunities all are great ways to volunteer. Animal shelters are also great opportunities to help. By giving up your time in the service of others, you can do a great deal to improve your reputation.
- If you're still in school, see what sort of opportunities they can help you find. Many public schools and colleges offer different volunteer opportunities for students.
- Some businesses offer volunteering programs that may come with perks. Talk to your supervisor or HR department to see what sort of opportunities they provide.
- Give talks or lectures at a local school, organization, library or civic group on a topic you know and that would be helpful for others.
- Use the situation to learn. Become compassionate towards others with bad reputations. By being nice to those who are not thought well of, after having gained insight from your reputation experience, you can develop positive perceptions. Take the opportunity to see the people who have bad reputations around you that may be in need of a friend.
- Impress others. Go above and beyond.[8] Do something amazing. Learn to play a musical instrument. Win a scholarship or award. Run a marathon. By doing impressive things, you can improve how people view you. Respect from others can go a long way toward improving your reputation.
EditCreating Lasting Change - Change parts of your life. External factors, such as friend groups, habits, and workplace can be part and parcel to how your reputation evolves. A toxic environment with toxic people and relationships may be the source of your problems. Take some time to consider whether or not you need to make some changes in the people and places of your life.
- If you have a bad reputation among friends, maybe it is time to spend time with different people. Maybe your friends are encouraging habits that make people think poorly of you.
- At work, toxic employment environments can create unreasonable expectations of people. A work environment which encourages an unhealthy work-life balance can make it seem that a hard working, dedicated individual is lazy. Examine your workplace culture, and think about whether or not a value clash is causing your reputation to suffer. You may want to find a new job.
- Change yourself. This can be a very difficult thing to accomplish. But when you see yourself through the eyes of others, and you don't like what you're looking at, make a change. Changing yourself is hard because we develop strong patterns and habits in life. However, by making big changes in your behavior, people will take notice. This will change how they see you, and it may cause others to re-evaluate their perceptions of you as a person.
- Seek professional help, such as a therapist or psychiatrist.
- Find a life coach or a spiritual guide to help you find ways to make internal changes.
- Avoid superficial changes. Superficial change is not the same as an authentic change. Inauthentic behavior is hard to keep consistent.[9] When you're not being authentic, people notice. Real change is harder than pretending to be different.
- Give yourself enough time to make amends. Too often, we make a mistake and then want it to be immediately erased. Unfortunately, things don't work that way - that's why it's smart to protect your reputation carefully by being a person of good character.
- Remember that it's very hard to "prove a negative." When someone says you did something, it's hard for you to prove that you didn't do it, unless someone knows for certain (they were with you at the time you were supposed to have done this thing). Rather than trying to "prove or disprove" this incident, simply state your innocence and leave it at that. In the future, be very careful to demonstrate your good character, so that when people hear that you failed to do something, the first thing they think is, "That doesn't sound like Jay. Something must have come up, or there must be a good reason, if that's true."
- Once you've restored your reputation somewhat, protect it. Don't allow people to spread lies about you - but rather than just telling whoever told you about hearing an untrue thing about you, go and find the person who told that person. Root it out until you find the source of the untruths. Confront that person – usually it's most effective to simply ask why. "What have I done to earn your hate? Why are you saying this about me?" Once you know where it's coming from, you have a chance to put a stop to it entirely.
- You can't make some things right. No apology will satisfy certain types of people – instead, they enjoy playing the victim and painting you as a villain. In those cases, it's best to move on.
EditRelated wikiHows End a Bad Reputation As an Adult EditSources and Citations
Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found
|
| How to Juice to Lose Weight Posted: 21 Jan 2017 08:00 AM PST Juicing is a relatively new diet trend that focuses on juicing fruits and vegetables, using the juice as a meal replacement or a supplement to meals. There are variety of health benefits that have been associated with juicing, including weight loss and increased consumption of vitamins and minerals.[1] In addition, juicing can be a simple and tasty way to get more fruits and vegetables into your diet (especially for people who aren't a big fan of fruits or vegetables or don't have time to prepare them daily). Following a diet based on juicing may lead to weight loss, especially when combined with physical activity.[2] Follow the steps below for a safe and well-balanced juicing plan. EditStarting a Juicing Plan - Buy a juicer. The essential tool for following a juice-based diet is a juicer. You can purchase either a cold press juicer (also known as a Auger-style juicer) or a juice extractor. Juicers can vary widely in price (anywhere from $50 to over $400) and come in a variety of sizes.[3]
 - An Auger-style or cold press juicer are typically more expensive. They work by slowly crushing and mashing fruits and vegetables to extract the juice. The advantages of this style of juicer is that they typically leave behind more pulp in the juice. The pulp is from the skin and other fibrous parts of the fruit or vegetable and can add a little boost of fiber to your juices. The down side of these juicers is that they can easily get jammed with tougher fruits or vegetables.[4]
- A juice extractor separates the juice from the pulp and filters the juice through a strainer so no pulp remains. All fruits and vegetables should be cleaned and peels/skins removed as these can jam the machine. The disadvantage to juice extractors is that they can be hard to clean.[5]
- Review a variety of brands and types of juicers before making your purchase. Look for features that make the machine easy to use, store and clean. For example, find a juicer that has parts that are dishwasher safe or has a large feeding chute to allow for bigger slices/chunks of food.
- Also consider purchasing a blender. Blenders also vary in size and price and allow you to process the entire fruit or vegetable. Unlike juicers, blenders allow you to consume the entire fruit – including the fiber containing pulp and skins/peels. If your juice becomes too thick, add water to thin it out to your desired consistency.[6]
- Buy fresh, 100% juice. Many juicers are expensive and not in everyone's budget. If you're still interested in following a juicing diet, try purchasing fresh 100% juice instead of making it yourself.
- Avoid purchasing frozen fruit concentrate or fruit juice cocktails. These types of juices typically have added sugars, flavorings and preservatives that are not healthy.
- Outside of your grocery, there are some juice bars and markets that sell a variety of freshly pressed fruit and vegetable juices. You can purchase a single serving or large quantities.
- Buy a variety of fruits and vegetables. Another essential ingredient to following a juicing diet is to have a variety of fruits and vegetables on hand. Purchasing both fresh and frozen items will give you more flexibility and variety with your juices.
- As a rule, your juice should be 2/3 vegetables and 1/3 fruit. Fruits generally contain a lot of sugar, which can cause your blood sugar to spike.
- Buying frozen fruits or vegetables allows you to stock up on items that might be out of season. In addition, you can use a small portion of frozen items in one sitting without worry of them going bad.
- Mixing both frozen and fresh items together can give you thicker smoothie-like consistency to your juice which may be more enjoyable.
- Be careful to only buy frozen fruits and vegetables without added sugars. Read the ingredient labels to make sure only the fruit or vegetable is listed.
- Prepare sample juices. Before purchasing a large quantity of fruits and veggies, try making a few small servings of different blends of juices. This will prevent you from wasting items you may not enjoy as a juice.
- Many times, when you purchase a juicer or blender, the company provides you with a small recipe book to use. This is a good place to get quick ideas for recipes.
- Note that when making your own fresh juice, it takes a significant amount of fruits or vegetables to make enough juice. For example, it takes 6-8 large carrots to make 1 cup of juice.[7]
- Make sure to wash all your fruits and veggies first. This is especially important when you're going to blend the skin/peels into your drink.
- Follow the juicer's instruction booklet. Most recommend to add delicate items first (like leafy greens), followed by softer items (like a banana or tomato) and add hard foods (like carrots or apples) last.[8]
- Prepare only 1-2 servings of fresh juice at a time. Freshly squeezed or processed juices are more susceptible to harmful bacteria which can make you sick.[9]
- Prepare your juice for one day at a time. Keep and store all juice in an airtight container for no longer than 24 hours.[10]
- Make sure to keep all freshly processed juice in the refrigerator so it stays within the acceptable temperature range of below 40 F.[11]
- Purchase small, air-tight water bottles or mason jars to help you store smaller quantities of juice safely in the refrigerator. Mason jars also make a great on-the-go container.
EditDesigning Your Juice Diet - Purchase juicing resources. Following a juicing diet can be complicated. There are a variety of different diet plans, juices and methods for juicing. Purchasing or researching recipes and eating plans can help you follow the plan more easily.
- Write up a meal plan. After researching a variety of juicing diets, you may realize there are a variety of options to choose from. If you're not following a specific plan, it may be helpful to write up your own meal plan to ensure you're maintaining a well-balanced and healthy diet.
- Figure out how many meals you're replacing with juice or how much juice you'd like to consume each day. You'll find some diets recommend consuming a certain amount of juice throughout the day. For example, 1-2 servings of a "green" or vegetable based juice.[12]
- Arrange to consume a variety of juices in your day. Plan to have both fruit and vegetable juices daily – not just one or the other.
- Also plan to use a variety of fruits and vegetables each day. For example, maybe your morning juice has apples and kale while your afternoon choice has carrots, oranges and ginger.
- Weigh yourself. It's important to track your weight on any diet or weight loss plan. This will help you record your progress and give you insight into how effective or ineffective a juice diet is for you.
- It's ideal to weigh yourself about 1-2 times a week. Weighing daily won't show you the big picture. Daily fluctuations in weight (either a gain or lose) are normal and might not be accurate compared to a weekly weigh in.[13]
- Purchase a home scale so you have the right tools at home to keep yourself on track.
- Jot down your weekly weights. It can be a fun and encouraging way to see how much progress you've made over time.
EditPlanning for Healthy and Safe Weight Loss - Consult with your doctor or a registered dietitian. Speaking to your doctor prior to starting any new diet regimen is a smart idea. They may be able to provide you with additional guidance or recommend alternatives that might be more appropriate for your health. A registered dietitian is a nutrition expert that may give you a more effective diet for weight loss.
- Speak with your primary care doctor. They may know or can refer you to a local dietitian for additional help.
- Visit the EatRight website and click on the orange "Find an Expert" button on the top right to search for a dietitian in your area.
- Eat at least 1200 calories daily. Consuming less than 1200 calories daily, especially for more than a few days, is not a safe or healthy way to lose weight.[14] Ensure that whatever juicing diet or plan you choose, that you're able to consume adequate calories daily.
- Use a food journal or calorie counting app to track how much you're consuming each day.
- Try replacing only 1-2 meals with a juice instead of going on a completely liquid juice diet. Consuming 1-2 well-balanced meals will help ensure you meet your calorie goal each day.
- Side effects of a very low calorie diet can include: fatigue/exhaustion, weakness and hunger. More extreme side effects can include nutrient deficiencies like anemia, loss of muscle mass and heart problems.[15]
- Eat enough protein. Although juicing allows you to consume larger quantities of fruits and vegetables, juice provides little to no protein. In order to maintain a healthy, well-balanced diet, it's important to consume adequate protein each day.
- On average, adult women need to consume about 46 g protein daily and adult men need to consume about 56 g daily.[16]
- Add unflavored protein powder to your juice, which will help control your blood sugar and won't affect the taste.
- Try making a smoothie instead of only juice. You can mix in nuts, seeds, nut butters, milk, yogurt or protein powder for a big boost of protein.
- Only juice for 1-2 meals a day and ensure to eat lean protein at all other meals and snacks.
- Add in a source of fiber. Some juice diets and juicers (like juice extractors) leave out the pulp from the fruits and vegetables. The pulp contains some nutrients and most of the fiber from the fruits and vegetables. Low-fiber diets can lead to constipation, blood sugar fluctuations and weight gain.[17]
- Many juicers separate the juice from the pulp. You can add some of the pulp back into your juice or use it in other recipes. For example, you can add leftover vegetable pulp to soups, stews, and pasta sauce or mix it into casseroles or other savory baked dishes. Try adding fruit pulp to to sweet baked goods like muffins, cookies or pancakes.[18]
- You can also try adding a fiber supplement daily. These come in chewable tablets, capsules or powders. Add a 1-2 servings daily.
- Regardless of how you get it, fiber is an essential part of a healthy diet. Make sure you are not eliminating it from your diet by juicing.
- Limit the amount of time you spend drinking only liquids. All liquid or juice diets or cleanses are not meant to be followed long-term. Don't follow plans that recommend consuming only juice or liquids for more than a few days.[19]
- Juice cleanses and diets are typically very low in calorie, low in protein and low in some essentials nutrients which, over long periods of time, can be unhealthy and unsafe.[20]
- Engage in regular physical activity. With any weight loss plan, it's important to be physically active. Exercise burns additional calories to support your weight loss attempts.
- Aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio exercises and at least 2 days of moderate-intensity strength training each week.[21]
- Be aware to not push yourself too hard with exercise when following a lower calorie diet. Physical activity requires a significant amount of energy to perform. When you're subsisting solely off juice or a low-calorie liquid diet, you may not be consuming enough calories to fuel a workout.
- Avoid bottled fruit juice cocktails (ex: Cranberry Juice Cocktail); they are high in added sugars.
- If you're not a fan of fruits or vegetables, adding juice to your diet may help you consume more vitamins and minerals. However, if you can, it's best to eat the whole fruit or vegetable to get the most benefit.
- Research juicing diets and plans thoroughly before choosing to purchase an expensive machine or resources.
- Always consult your doctor prior to starting any diet or making any significant dietary changes.
- Women who are pregnant and people who have compromised immune systems or heart, liver or kidney disease should avoid juice cleanses or diets.[22]
- Some medications interact with certain fruit juices. Always talk to your doctor prior to starting any juicing program to make sure it's safe and appropriate for you to consume a variety of juices.[23]
- Some juicing plans encourage very low calorie, low-fat and low-protein diets that are not safe long-term and may not be safe for everyone. Again, check with your doctor prior to starting.[24]
- Do not drink laxative teas or take laxatives during a juice diet or cleanse. This will increase your risk for dehydration and electrolyte imbalances.[25]
EditRelated wikiHows EditSources and Citations
Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found
|
| How to Be Safe and Smart on the Internet Posted: 21 Jan 2017 12:00 AM PST The internet is a great place to make and chat with friends, create websites, learn neat new things, and have an infinite amount of fun. Unfortunately, the internet has also attracted a new set of predators who will try to get your personal information for their own malicious ends. To stay safe while enjoying the benefits of the internet, you need to be a smart surfer. Keep a sharp eye out for threats like hackers and cyber-bullies, and keep your personal information secure, and you'll have a safe internet experience. EditInternet Safety Cheat Sheet EditKeeping Your Identity Secure - Be wary of giving out identifying information on the internet. Giving away personal information on the internet is like giving away your life. When people are on social networks (Facebook, Myspace, etc.), they often don't realize when they're sharing too much information. There are many ways in which oversharing your personal information can endanger you.
 - If you need to enter your name on an account, use a nickname or a fake name. Alternately, you could use an incomplete form of your name. For instance, if you need to enter your name on a form, enter "Eric P." instead of your full name, Eric Pillata.
- Maximize your account privacy wherever possible. Many sites and messenger services have varying levels of privacy. For instance, you may have the option to share your name, date of birth, and where you go to school in addition to the content you post. Hide this data from everyone except your immediate friends. Explore your account settings to ensure that this information is kept confidential.
- Don't post other unique identifying information like your Social Security Number, date of birth, and other data. These are among the most important pieces of information about you, and with them in hand, hackers could easily steal your identity.
- Don't use a picture of you as your profile picture on social networks. Put a picture of something that you love instead. For instance, if you love eating grapes, post a picture of grapes on your social media account or chat messenger service of choice. If some malicious person were to discover your real picture, they might use it to locate and harm you.
- If you are a minor, always ask your parents what personal information they want you to share online.
- Keep your location private.[1] Do NOT give away your location to anyone you do not know online. This means you should not share your address or even the city you reside in. Even the school you attend should remain a secret when chatting or posting online. With just a few details about your location, an internet predator could pretend to be someone you know. For instance, if you tell someone online you live in a certain town, and they know your age, they might be able to pose as someone you know or as someone who lives nearby in order to get you to share important info.
- Be careful when posting photos of where you live. A picture in front of your house or near your mailbox might include a partial or complete address which a predator might use to track you down. Carefully examine all photos before posting them online.
- Do not give out personal contact information online.[2] This refers not only to your phone number and email, but your social media sites or instant-messaging services. If you make your contact information known to the general public, you might get threatening or abusive messages, or attract unwelcome attention. Keep your accounts visible only to friends who you specifically selected for access.
- If you have a website, keep your domain name registration private. If you list your domain privately, instead of your personal contact info, the contact info of your domain registrar will show up for anyone conducting a domain ownership search.[3]
- Think before posting compromising content. The most obvious example of this would be nude pictures or videos.[4] But you could also end up in trouble by posting images, text, or video which celebrates or admits to drug use, racism, and violence. Even if you send this content in confidence to a boyfriend or girlfriend, there's no way of knowing what they'll do with it. If you break up, they might, for instance, post the images anonymously online in revenge.
- Even if your social media accounts are private, people might repost your content in a public place where you'd rather it not be seen.
- Once something is on the internet, it is virtually impossible to remove it. Be smart and don't post anything you wouldn't want your mother (or a potential employer) to see.
- If a friend posts something on their social media profile, blog, or website which you do not want online, ask them kindly to remove it. If they do not remove it, attempt to force them to remove it by contacting their parents or guardian, or enlist aid of a third party to negotiate with them.
- Be proactive in preventing compromising content from being posted online by telling people who take potentially compromising pictures of you, "Please do not post that online."
- If you are underage, check with your parents before posting anything online.[5]
- Be wary of strangers who want to meet. If you are on a dating site or get a message from someone you don't know who wants to meet, do not meet them unless you are comfortable doing so. Do not give in to pressure from a stranger on the internet to give out your address or other contact info. Remember, with the anonymity of the internet, anyone can claim anything about themselves.
- If you do decide to meet someone from the internet, choose a public place like a restaurant or shopping mall to ensure they are who they claim they are.
- If you are underage and want to meet up with a friend you've met online, check with your parent or guardian to ensure they know the situation.[6]
EditDealing With Cyberbullies - Don't listen to their lies.[7] Cyberbullies will often claim that there are a number of other people who agree with them. They may say that others have contacted them privately about you and your behavior or beliefs in order to bolster their case that there is something wrong with you. This is especially common in long-term online communities like chatrooms or online forums.
- For instance, after enduring several weeks of abuse from a cyberbully you might get a private message from them which reads, "A number of users have contacted me about what you've said and agree with me that you are both stupid and ugly."
- Stay cool. Do not let abusive messages hurt your feelings. Remember, the cyberbully is posting or sending abusive content with the express goal of getting a rise out of you. If you feel sad, hurt, or angry, the cyberbully has won. View the situation in a detached light and consider the cyberbully for what he or she is: a pathetic, sad individual who projects their weaknesses and flaws on others.[8]
- Understand that cyberbullies, like any other kind of bullies, are cowards and use the anonymity afforded by the internet to hide who they are. Recognizing this will help you put their opinions and abuse in perspective. It is difficult to take seriously the worthless claims of a coward.
- Don't blame yourself for the cyberbullying.[9] Don't, for instance, feel that the abuser might have a point when he or she criticizes a shirt you wore in a picture you posted of yourself. You never deserve slander and abuse online or offline for the clothes you wear (or any other reason).
- Engage in hobbies and interests where you cannot be cyberbullied. Try taking a brief break from the web by playing a sport, picking up a musical instrument, or writing your feelings in a journal. Running or biking are also great choices to relieve stress brought on by cyberbullying.
- Do not reply to or engage with cyberbullies. Cyberbullies thrive on the sense of control they derive from taunting and harassing you. When you see their messages in your inbox, or read them in a forum, do not reply in order to deny their charges, and do not reply with an equally malicious line of slander.[10] Doing so would bring you down to their level.
- If possible, block the user on the forum or chat community. This way, they cannot send you messages and you cannot see their posts.[11]
- Contact the administrator directly in order to get the individual banned or reprimanded. Keep all abusive messages and emails. Do not delete them. If possible, create a subfolder for these messages labeled "Abuse" and store them there. The messages will serve as evidence for you later if you need to take more serious action. The accumulated emails or messages will serve as evidence that you have been a victim of cyberbullying.[12]
- Each time you receive a message or see a threatening or abusive post, report it to the forum administrator.
- If your cyberbully is sending messages directly to your email, you may need to contact their internet service provider (ISP) directly in order to have their email account shut down. For instance, if you get emails from bully@aol.com, you can contact AOL (the provider of the email address) in order to get that email address banned.
- A full list of ISP contact information is available at http://www.search.org/resources/isp-list/.
EditProtecting Yourself From Hackers - Keep your firewall turned on. Your firewall is an option which helps protect your passwords and computer security. You can think of it the same way you think of a lock on your door. If your firewall is down, you open yourself up to hackers who can take or delete information, steal your passwords, and wreak all manner of other havoc. Do not, therefore, switch the firewall off.
- Grant access to the firewall only for authorized programs which require it like games or video streaming services.
- Browse with a VPN. A virtual private network (VPN) essentially acts as a middleman between the web and your computer, and provides an extra layer of encryption to your interactions online. The VPN server might be located in a different city or even a different country than the one you reside in, and means that tracing your data back to you is almost impossible.
- For a double-whammy of internet privacy, combine the VPN with your browser's incognito or privacy mode. Privacy mode prevents data, cookies, your download record, and other info from being saved on your computer.
- Avoid public wifi.[13] Wifi hotspots are attractive when you're out and about but need to hop online for a quick search for directions or other info, but do so with caution. Spend a minimum amount of time logged on to public wifi.
- Be sure what the name of the public wifi hotspot is. Logging into the wrong one, or one with a similar name meant to deliberately deceive public wifi users, could mean your online communication -- including passwords, emails, and bank info -- is being lifted by a hacker.
- Keep your home wifi connection encrypted. Open wifi makes it easy for hackers to access your computer and download illegal files.
- Purchase a new router every few years. Some routers have vulnerabilities which never get corrected.[14]
- Add challenging passwords to your online accounts.[15] Whether it's your social media, online banking, or email account, you'll feel frustrated and powerless if you suffer a security breach. Use long passwords (greater than eight characters) with a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and (if possible) other characters like underscores and dollar signs.
- Make each password unique and write them down in a notebook that you always keep in one place. You'll remember the most important and most common ones in time; the less common ones will be accessible with your password notebook.
- Add passwords to your devices, too. Your computer, phone, and tablet should all be password-protected.
- Don't use something obvious as your password like your lover's name, your date of birth, or your name.
- Use two-step authentication. Many services have begun using two layers of security, a process called two-step authentication . For instance, Google offers its Gmail users the option to receive a text message containing a random logon key after entering a password on unknown devices. This way, if someone does gain access to your password, they will be unable to use it except on the devices you have selected as safe.
- Keep your software updated. If your operating system or internet browser does not incorporate fixes for the latest security glitches, you leave yourself vulnerable to hackers. Set your system and software to automatically update when new updates are available. This will keep your system safe.
- Most software will ask you when you first install it whether you want it to auto-update. Indicate that you do to save yourself the hassle of figuring out how to manually update later.
- Download with caution. Hackers and phishers will often send mass emails out to unsuspecting users with worms (malicious data-gathering programs), viruses, or other malware. Users who download email attachments without first scanning them or checking them against known bad files put themselves at risk for a security breach. Do not download attachments in online links, emails, or messages from sources you do not trust.
- Utilize antivirus software. Antivirus software can keep unwanted programs and potentially harmful files off your computer. Reputable programs include McAfee Antivirus, Webroot Antivirus, and Bitdefender are among the top antivirus programs.[16] If you're looking for a more affordable option, Bitdefender has a free antivirus program; Panda Free Antivirus and Avast Free Antivirus are also good options.[17]
- Keep your antivirus software -- like all your software and your OS -- up-to-date. The difference between free and paid antivirus software is usually that free versions do not update as regularly or completely as versions you pay for.
- Turn your computer off when it is not being used. Many people choose to leave their computers on all the time. But the longer your computer is on, the more likely it is that you become the target of a hacker. A computer which is not transmitting or receiving internet data cannot be accessed by hackers, spyware, or botnets.
EditRelated wikiHows EditSources and Citations
Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found
|
No comments:
Post a Comment