“You know, I’ve heard somewhere that if…”- feel free to finish that sentence. I’m sure you’ve heard them all, just as I have. No one really knows how they get started, or whether or not they are really true. But one thing is for certain, the majority of us will believe anything when it comes to caring for our computers. And who can blame us? After all, connection to technology has become our lifeline.
But we don’t want to spend all day researching trying to figure out if any of these rumors we’ve heard are actually true. And, let’s be honest, with the speed at which technology advances these days it is going to be hard for the rumor mill to keep up. So, we’re taking the guesswork out of it for you. We’ve come up with what we believe to be the top 5 tech myths out there, and we are going to settle these rumors once and for all.
1) If I save my information in the Cloud, I don’t ever have to worry about losing it.
FALSE.
When you save your information to the Cloud, all that actually means is that you are not saving it onto a piece of equipment that you have in your office. All information needs to be housed in a physical location somewhere, so what the Cloud really means is that you are sending your information to be stored in a different location. And, since it is stored on a physical piece of equipment, it is still vulnerable. Natural disasters, weather, etc. can still impact the data centers where the information is stored, so it can still impact your information.
2) If I have more than one anti-virus program, it means my computer is more secure.
FALSE.
The truth is, if you have multiple anti-virus programs running on your computer, you are actually doing more harm than good. What ends up happening is the anti-virus programs conflict with one another, and your computer is more likely to become infected. Anti-virus programs are the loner kids in the playground…they just don’t play well with others.
3) I should change my password every ninety days.
TRUE.
Although it is rare to find someone who actually does it, changing your password every so often will help protect against hackers. Also, you should be using different passwords for your different accounts. To learn more about the best practices when it comes to password security, check out this blog post.
4) If I lose anything on my computer, it can be retrieved from a backup.
FALSE.
Only what is being backed up can be retrieved once lost. It is rare that someone is going to be backing up every single thing on their computer. Most of the time, especially in businesses, certain drives and folders will be designated to be backed up. If you lose a document or picture that you did not save in one of the designated places, you won’t be able to retrieve it from the backups. Make sure that you know what drives and folders are being backed up so that you can make sure to save your important information in the right place.
5) I have a Mac, so my computer can’t get viruses.
FALSE.
Once upon a time, before Apple products became so popular, this was mainly true. While it was indeed possible for a Mac computer to get a virus, it happened very rarely. Hackers mainly concentrated on targeting PCs, since the PC was the most popular computer. However, that is no longer the case. While hackers are still targeting PCs, they have now broadened their horizons and are targeting Apple products too. Basically, it all comes down to a cost-benefit analysis. Now that Apple products are so popular, hackers don’t mind putting in the work to target them, since the payoff will more than make up for it. To learn about this in more detail, read this blog post.