Here is a letter from the Sunbelt Security News newsletter about who really needs to take extreme measures to protect themselves online.
Worries about Being Carefree Online
I am a senior, age 70; who knows blessed little about computers and different applications. Actually I feel very satisfied with what little I do in cyberspace, but...I wonder sometimes. My mainstay is communication with friends and family via email. No Facebook, thank you. I love reading my science and medical e-letters. I Google a lot for information. I make occasional purchases and interact with Netflix. And I pay my EZPass and TMobile bills online too. While I do have protection from VIPRE I do occasionally wonder if I should be so carefree when I hear about the latest virus scares. Is it really necessary to change my passwords? Just thinking about it gives me the "willies" and I know I would need help from the kids. Bottom line is I trust VIPRE to protect me! - DD
Editor's Note: Just be aware of your computing environment, online or off. Just like the old adage, don't take candy from strangers; the same is true about attachments. Don't open attachments that you receive from strangers or for that matter even from friends if they are not expected. Use strong passcodes or phrases. It is a dangerous environment unfortunately, but with good security practices, you should be fine.
Photo files are also an important part of using a computer for a lot of seniors. Our advise at CrexTechs is to always save photos to My Pictures (you can have any number of sub-file folders under My Pictures to organize your photos) then back up My Pictures periodically by coping the whole My Pictures file to a thumb drive (also called a flash drive, key drive, pen drive, memory stick, etc).
CrexTechs has lots of these little thumb drives on hand so if you need one, stop by Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm. We can also show you how to use these handy little drives.