Archives - Security Best Practice


Learn to use the restore feature on your computer

Many OSes have a “restore” feature enabling you to reverse its configuration to a previous state. This can be useful if anything goes wrong, such as a faulty OS or driver update. To find it in Windows 10, click the Recovery tab in Settings. Here, you’ll find options such as resetting your PC, advanced startup […]

Do not give sensitive information in reply to unsolicited calls or emails

Chances are, you wouldn’t give someone your Social Security number or address to a stranger who asked for it on the street. Likewise, you shouldn’t hand it over to someone who calls purporting to be a tech support specialist (a common scam) or in an email saying you’ve won a prize and need to fill in […]

Is a digital signature secure?

A digital signature—a type of electronic signature—is a mathematical algorithm routinely used to validate the authenticity and integrity of a message (e.g., an email, a credit card transaction, or a digital document). Digital signatures generate a virtual fingerprint that is unique to a person or entity and are used to identify users and protect information […]

Real police officers don’t communicate by phone, text or chat

A common tactic for bad actors to scam people into giving up valuable personal information is to pose as a police officer when contacting a potential victim. However, just because someone says they’re a law enforcement officer doesn’t mean they are. This goes for all forms of remote communication, including phone calls: If someone claiming […]

Know that your ISP can track your search history

Most people understand by now that there’s no such thing as absolute privacy online, and even private browsers can’t control what your ISP can see. Don’t look for information on how to do anything illegal or dangerous, and don’t search for any sites or content that are against the law.

Don’t believe statistics from unreliable sources

This goes for pretty much all information online, but bogus statistics are rampant all over the internet. If you’re writing a paper, article or anything else that cites statistics, try to get them directly from a reputable research study — if a site doesn’t say where it got its numbers, they may not be reliable.