SECURITY

Security is always an important issue with computers and mobile devices. Another issue which goes hand in hand with security is privacy. Even an average computer user should be aware of threats from viruses and other malware, but for some people security and privacy is especially important for other reasons. My concern in this case is how to prevent other people accessing your data or tracking your actitivities on the net. Although somebody might say that only criminals have something to hide, that is not the only reason. Using security and privacy measures is every man’s right to protect themselves.

There are dozens of reasons to use security and privacy tools. You may have some sensitive material stored on your computer. It may contain business secrets, unique research, health records or some other data which should not be accessible if your computer is stolen or lost.

Then there is privacy. Whenever you are online, browsing the net, transferring data, reading email or accessing some web-page you are leaving electronic fingerprints everywhere. In many cases websites collect information from visitors and use it for marketing purposes. It is also possible, that one is living in a country where freedom of speech is not a similar right as it is in other countries. Or you may be a whistle-blower.

There are several totally free, open-source tools available in the Internet. In most cases they are Linux-based and quite easy to use. Some of this software is available for other operating systems also.