Computer Hacking: How to Keep Your Personal Information Personal
It’s something we are always warned against, but never expect to happen to us.
For Emily Zurliene, she was just trying to register for an online sociology class when she became a victim of computer hacking.
“It took me to different links that my computer had never seen before and obviously I clicked on them and it brought me to a virus page and I kept getting pop-ups and stuff on my computer and I was like ‘uh oh this isn’t right,'” Zurliene says.
It’s as easy as a glance over your shoulder for your password and these cybercriminals can gain instant access to your computer or phone.
Once these hackers have access to your devices, they can gather all kinds of personal information.
“I honestly felt really violated and kind of vulnerable because I keep a lot of personal things on there,” Zurliene says. “My text messages go through my laptop and like documents that a lot of people shouldn’t see or whatever so it was really kind of scary to think that someone could be getting ahold of that.”
So what do these hackers do with your information?
“Nothing bad may happen that first day but you’ve given your information to somebody bad and they might, in turn, do something bad or they might sell that information so one day that might be an issue,” Fresno State CIO Orlando Leon says.
Some signs to look for if you think your computer might be compromised include an increase in pop-up windows, your battery life dying quickly or your computer running hotter than normal.
Fresno State Computer Information Systems student Bernhard Shiveley says that you should always be on the lookout because you could be hacked at any time.
Experts say to use caution, avoid unfamiliar websites and to just be safe.
“Change your password and have more than one password, that’s about it. No one should be looking around at your stuff if you’re not looking around at anyone else’s stuff,” Shiveley says.
Zurliene says she is now extra careful of websites that automatically save her password.