Guides Checklist
A 20-minute security check-up
No software to buy. Work through these in order and you will have closed the gaps that account for most real-world compromises.
1. Install the updates you have been postponing
Operating system, browser, and anything that opens files from other people - document readers, media players, archive tools. Then turn automatic updates on so this is not a task you have to remember.
This is the least interesting item on the list and the one that closes the most doors. Attacks against known vulnerabilities work only on machines that never applied the fix.
2. Check what starts with your computer
On Windows, Task Manager has a Startup tab. On macOS, look under General, then Login Items. Disable anything you do not recognise or no longer use. A faster machine is the usual side effect.
3. Audit your browser extensions
Extensions can read and modify the pages you visit, which makes them a genuinely privileged position. Remove any you did not deliberately install or no longer use, and be sceptical of anything promising coupons, downloads or speed.
4. Turn on a second factor where it matters most
Email first - it is the account that can reset all the others. Then banking, then anything holding payment details. An authenticator app is stronger than SMS, because it cannot be intercepted by taking over your phone number.
5. Stop reusing passwords
Reuse is what turns one company's breach into a problem across your whole digital life. A password manager makes unique passwords practical, which is the only reason people manage to keep them.
If replacing every password at once is unrealistic, do email, banking and your primary shopping accounts today and work through the rest over time.
6. Confirm your backup actually exists
Not "is backup switched on" but "can I open a file from it right now". Restore one document as a test. An untested backup is a belief, not a backup.
7. Check that your security software is running and current
Open it. Confirm real-time protection is on and definitions are recent, then run one full scan rather than a quick one. If you have more than one real-time scanner installed, remove all but one.
8. Look at your account activity
Email and major accounts list recent sign-ins and connected devices. Anything unfamiliar is worth investigating, and revoking old devices you no longer own takes seconds.