Halloween is over, but is your computer still haunting you?
Tricks and Treats for this November.
You are not being paranoid.
Your computer could potentially be spying on you!
Here are 3 of the ways it can be spying on you and 3 simple tricks to stop it.
1. Is Someone Watching You?
If you have a webcam on your laptop, monitor or connected to your desktop computer, the possibility is there.
The simplest way of preventing this spying is to simply cover up the webcam lens with a piece of paper and tape.
Even a band-aid will do the trick as shown in the photo below.
You can always remove the covering when you choose to use your webcam with someone that you know.
2. Could Someone Be Listening To You?
The potential is there for any website to listen to your conversations, without your knowledge, through the microphones built into laptops.
Also, microphones can be added to computers either on their own or as part of a headset.
The best advice would be to disable your microphone and only turn it on again when you need it.
Here are some general instructions on how to do this.
The instructions for your computer may vary depending on the microphone, model of computer or operating system.
- Right click on the speaker ICON in the Taskbar and select ‘Playback devices’.
- In the following window, click on the ‘Recording’ tab.
- Left click on each device that is ENABLED just once to highlight it.
- Right click and select DISABLE.
3. Is Someone Following You?
Sometimes, ads on your computer seem to read your mind.
This is not your imagination because websites can save cookies to your hard drive.
These cookies can track personal information about you and this is why these ‘personalized’ ads seem to be following you around while you are browsing.
Below I will show you how to delete all of your cookies in Chrome.
Please note that by deleting all of your cookies, you will be signed out of Websites so you will need to have your usernames and passwords at hand to sign back in.
These steps will delete all of your Chrome cookies:
- Go to the Chrome menu icon and click ‘Settings’
- Click “Show advanced settings” at the bottom.
- In the “Privacy” section, click “Content settings” button.
- In the “Cookies” section, Click “All cookies and site data”
- To Delete all cookies, click the “Remove all” button.
I would recommend AdBlock Plus.
AdBlock Plus’ primary purpose is to remove all intrusive ads from your browsing experience, YouTube video ads, Facebook ads, banners, pop-ups, pop-unders, background ads, etc.
Installing and configuring this software is a bit too involved to cover in this newsletter but you can visit this Website for more information.
You can always contact Proven Solutions if you need more help with any of these tricks or more tips to help you protect your privacy and keep your computer secure.
- On-site and remote support including Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM).
- Virus and Ransomware protection and removal.
- Email and Internet security to protect your data and identity.
- Data back-up to both local storage and the Cloud including monthly packages to monitor and manage these back-ups.
- Data recovery and disaster plans.
- Training on Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel and Word) as well as other software.
- Tune-Up and Preventative Maintenance of over 160 items.
- Optimization to increase the speed and life of your computer.
- Troubleshooting and repair of hardware and software issues.
- Installation and configuration of hardware/software for single computers/networks.
- Sales of Lenovo computers and Brother printers, toners and other supplies.
- Hardware and software from many other trusted manufacturers.
I encourage you to contact us for any computer related inquiries.