Usually when we think about cybersecurity we think about hackers who are looking to gain entry into the databases of businesses and large organizations. We think about identity theft and financial gain as the intended outcome of cybersecurity threats. But what we do not think about is that as individuals going about our daily lives and especially as students, that we may be contributing to one of the most basic cyber threats.
The research company Gartner suggests that a laptop is stolen every 53 seconds. And research done by the University of Pittsburgh says that your laptop has a one in ten chance of being stolen and only a 2 percent chance of recovery. And, of all of those laptops thefts, half of them occur inside a classroom.
For a student, the data on the laptop is the true value of the machine. It is not the device itself but it is the time and energy spent on the documents and videos and items that are saved on the computer. The data on your computer is irreplaceable in terms of concentration, time and effort.
Laptops are easily hackable. If a hacker can get into your computer and your files, they can see who you share information with, your contacts and other personal information about you and the other people that you have saved in your documents and apps.
What's a student to do? Here are some ways that cybersecurity experts recommend to help keep your laptop secure.