We’re all familiar with the small storage devices called thumb drives, flash drives, or memory sticks. A tiny circuit board holds vast amounts of information that we are able to share and retrieve within seconds and the added ease of portability is a plus when working on different devices. We all  take safety precautions on our personal electronic devices and need to take it a step further when using flash drives.

Many drives are preprogrammed by manufacturers to contain certain information. As users we have the ability to store whatever we want and therein lies  the problem. Hackers use their own flash drives to  install invasive and infected software  on  our computers and  our accounts and personal information are compromised  in seconds with the click of a button and a smile. By the time we find out, it may be too late to repair the damage. Here’s some tips to prevent a UFO attack:

Never let a stranger use your computer. In addition to invasive programs that  may be stored on their flash drives ,  malware, spyware, and other viral programs can be downloaded directly onto your hard drive. The saying “stranger danger” applies to electronics too!

Use only reputable services for repairs.

Keep your anti-virus programs up to date and schedule regular scans. Free anti-virus programs provide some protection, but remember, if it’s free to you, it’s free to hackers, too, and they can easily figure out ways to work within  those programs  as well.

Using USBS can be as easy as 1-2-3 and fraud awareness is totally free! Think twice before allowing anyone access to your devices and data and always PYA (Protect Your Assets)!