Devices and accounts

In your phone's settings

“Software update available. Automatic updates: off.”

You opened the settings yourself.

What do you do?

• ✓ Install the update and turn on automatic updates. – Exactly. Updates close security holes. Turned on automatically, you don't have to think about them any more.
• ✗ Better not — updates only cause trouble. – A device without updates stays online with known holes. That's a bigger risk than a changed menu.

Updates are the simplest protection: they close holes that attackers know about. Just make sure they come from your device's settings — not from a web page.

In an electronics shop

The salesperson says about your new laptop: “Without our antivirus subscription for £49 a year, you're unprotected.”

The laptop runs Windows.

What's true?

• ✓ Antivirus is already built in. What matters is that it stays switched on and updates run. – Exactly. Windows and Apple computers come with built-in antivirus — make sure it's switched on. A second product can even conflict with it.
• ✗ Without a paid subscription, the laptop is open to viruses. – That's not right. You can buy a subscription, but you don't need one — the built-in protection is enough if it's on and up to date.

Not a scam, but a sales pitch: the built-in antivirus is enough if it's switched on and gets updates. More important than a second program are updates and care with links and attachments.

Next door

Ransomware has locked all the photos on your neighbour's computer. He's told to pay £400 in Bitcoin for the key.

What would have helped him most beforehand?

• ✓ A backup on an external drive that's only plugged in for the backup. – Exactly. With a copy that isn't permanently connected, he could have reset the computer and restored his photos — without paying.
• ✗ A longer password for the computer. – A good password helps against a lot — but not once a program is already running on the computer. Only a copy protects against losing data.
• ✗ Nothing — you can't protect yourself against that. – You can: a backup makes ransomware almost toothless. The photos are still there.

A backup is the best protection against losing data — to ransomware, a fault or theft. Only plug the drive in to back up, then disconnect it, because ransomware can spread to it.

Card payment: £329.00

Online retailer · just now

You haven't bought anything. The message comes from your banking app, where you've switched on notifications for card payments.

What do you do?

• ✓ Call your bank straight away — on the number on the back of your card — and have the card blocked. – Exactly. The notification made the misuse visible at once. The sooner you act, the less can happen.
• ✗ Wait for the next statement. – More payments could follow by then. A payment you don't recognise is a reason to act straight away.

The sooner you spot a payment you don't recognise, the less can happen. Check your statements regularly — if your banking app offers payment notifications, they help. Always check messages in the app you open yourself — never through a link in a text.

In your email account

“Is your recovery phone number still up to date?”

Your old number is listed, which no longer exists. You opened the account yourself.

What do you do?

• ✓ Enter your new number. – Exactly. If you forget your password or someone takes over the account, an up-to-date number or address is the easiest way back in.
• ✗ Better not to list any number — that's safer. – Then you'd lock yourself out when it matters. What's important is seeing the question in the account you opened yourself — not in an email with a link.

Up-to-date recovery details are part of being prepared: without them, getting back into your account after a forgotten password or an attack is much harder. Check them now and then — in the account itself, never through a link.