Most of the break-ins we see exploit no technical flaw at all. They exploit trust, urgency and tiredness.
It is tempting to picture a hacker breaking through a machine's defences. The reality is more ordinary : in the vast majority of cases the user opened the door, because a message looked credible and pressing. The measures below are ranked by how much they actually help, not by how hard they are.
This is the most effective measure by a wide margin. Turned on for an account, it makes a stolen password virtually useless, since a second proof is asked for at every new sign-in.
Start with your email. It is what lets you reset all your other accounts : whoever controls it controls the rest. Then your bank, then the shopping sites where a card is saved.
When a site is breached - and it happens constantly - the stolen addresses and passwords are tried automatically everywhere else. A reused password turns a leak at a retailer into access to your email.
Remembering thirty different passwords is impossible, and that is exactly why password managers exist : you memorise one long one, and it generates and remembers the rest. A phrase of four or five unrelated words beats a complicated eight-character word.
A large share of updates fix flaws that are being actively exploited. Postponing the restart indefinitely amounts to leaving a known door open. That goes for Windows, for the browser, and for your phone.
Watch out too for machines that no longer receive updates at all : a computer left on an abandoned version of Windows will never be patched again, whatever antivirus is installed.
The script is always the same : a web page freezes the browser, shows an alarming alert in Microsoft's or a well-known antivirus's colours, sometimes plays a sound, and displays a number to call urgently. On the line, a "technician" asks for remote control, then for payment for an imaginary repair.
Two signs are enough : no software company puts a phone number in an alert, and none will ever call you out of the blue. Close the tab, or force the browser to close through Task Manager. Our page on common scams covers the current variants.
Microsoft Defender, built into Windows, is enough for home use provided it is active and up to date. Installing a second one does not double your protection : the two get in each other's way and slow the machine down. Be especially wary of antivirus software offered by a pop-up window - it is often the unwanted program itself.
No protection is absolute. What separates an incident from a disaster is having a copy. An external drive plugged in once a week and then unplugged protects you from what no antivirus can stop : ransomware, theft, a flood. A drive left permanently connected will be encrypted along with the machine.
Was I expecting this message ? Is it putting me under pressure - account blocked, parcel on hold, fine to pay today ? Can I check another way, by typing the site address myself or calling a number I already know ? Three seconds of habit avoid very nearly every trap.
Older people are particularly targeted, not through naivety but because the scripts play on codes that are familiar to them : a call from an official service, the bank on the phone, a grandchild in trouble. The best habit to pass on is a simple one : never act under pressure, always call someone you trust first. We run one-to-one sessions on these subjects, at home.
For home use, no. An up-to-date Microsoft Defender offers comparable protection. Two-factor authentication and regular backups bring far more real security than another subscription.
The classic signs : unknown sign-ins reported by the service, messages sent without your knowledge, automatic forwarding rules created in your mailbox, or a sudden inability to log in. If in doubt, change the password from another device.
It is a cheap precaution with no downside. Blackmail messages claiming to hold images of you, on the other hand, are almost always bluff : they are sent en masse, with no images behind them at all.
Would you rather we took care of it ? See our antivirus installation and setup service, in Lyon and across the Rhone.
We review your setup and your accounts, plainly and without jargon.
Automatic assistant: it can make mistakes. Never share a password or a card number.
