This website talks about the internet and security when online but what if the worse happens and your computer does can a virus or crashes and then there is no way of recovering your work. The best thing to do in this instance is to make sure that you have backed up all of your work on to an external hard drive. Several years ago now, I did not back up my university work and the my laptop crashed and at first it appeared that it couldn’t be fixed and I was panicking as I though I had lost all of my university work. Luckily the university IT support team were really great and able to revive my computer, needless to say I always make sure that I back my work up now.

The best way to think of your home computer is like it is your house, you would not want someone to come to your house and start looking through your personal possessions and it is the same with you computer. You pay to secure your home with an alarm and you need to ensure that you secure your computer with anti-virus software. There are many free anti-virus packages that you can download from the internet for free but I would recommend spending money on buying some anti-virus-software as you do not want to cut any corners on your home PC when you consider how much personal information is stored there.

It has been reported this month that console manufacturer Nintendo has also been victim of hackers after they announced that a group of hackers known as Lulz Security had tried to access their information. This is the same group of hackers who are claiming to have carried out the hack on the Sony PlayStation network too. However unlike the Sony hack it appears as if this attempt to hack into the Nintendo network failed and no data has been breached. The server that was hacked into had no confidential or customer information on them so there was no need for Nindendo customers to be concerned or worried unlike the Sony attack which saw approximately 77 million of its users affected by the hack.

Back in April 2011 there was a massive outcry as it was revealed that the corporate giant Sony had had their PlayStation network hacked which left thousands of their users personal information exposed. Sony had admitted that user account information for its PlayStation network had been ‘compromised’ following an illegal and unauthorised intrusion. Sony has published an official apology for breach of their network, however many people do not believe that this has gone far enough as potentially thousands of people’s credit card information could also have been exploited in the hack too. The long term effects of this hack on the PlayStation brand and whether gamers will ever trust the company with their confidential information or their cash still remains to be seen.

At the moment one of the hot topics on in the world of security is the increase in internet hacks and in worryingly high amount of of cyber-crime that is taking place. It was revealed last week that a 19-year old boy had managed to hack into the website of the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the only reason why this hacker was exposed was because of his peers wanted to embarrass him in front of his parent. A major concern is that it was not the police who managed to catch the criminal but fellow hackers on the site Anonymous which is a notorious hacking group who work together to aim to embarrass governments and major corporations.

Online bingo has become extraordinarily popular in the last few years, particularly with those just wanting a little fun and a quick flutter on their lunch breaks. However, it is because online bingo is such a light-hearted, casual and easy game to play that it can become a security risk. (more…)