Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, and I’ve received monetary compensation for this blog post. All opinions are mine.

If your kids have played on the computer, you know you’ve yelled “STOP! Don’t open that……. ” on many occasions. It’s the anthem of all parents with little ones. It’s hard for adults to know what’s safe to open, and what’s not, when pop-ups appear on the screen. Let’s just say SPAM filters on emails don’t always catch everything, either! We’re living in a world where people love to mess with technology, and when a virus hits, we pay the ultimate price. Laptops, desktops, tablets, and smartphones – whatever you’re using at home, or at the office, needs to be protected.

How to protect your tech

• Disable those pop ups. Every browser has a pop-up blocker, start using it, especially if the kids are using the computer. Yes, it’s easy to click the “X” or click on “close” within the pop-up, but why take the chance. No one wants to click on the pop-up and have her computer infected with some crazy virus. Just disable them, and a huge weight will be removed from your daily computer activities!
• Be careful with emails. Just because email has made it through the SPAM and JUNK filters set up on your email server, and into the inbox, doesn’t mean they are safe to open! Read those titles, look at who sent the email, and be sure you know exactly who it came from. If you open one by mistake, don’t click a dang thing in the email. Just get rid of it. Delete it. Remove it from your trash bin, too!
• Install security software. You’ve all heard the name McAfee. If you’re on a computer, let’s hope you’ve heard of security software! McAfee happens to be one of the most trusted ones on the market. However, it’s not just for your computer anymore. With tablets, and smartphones being used so often, they’re at risk for viruses, too. You’ve got to protect ALL of your technology!
• Keep security software updated. What’s worse than not having any security? Having security that’s outdated. When you install McAfee, make sure you’re updating it when new updates come out! There’s a reason updates are done. It’s not because the software was missing anything when it came out, it’s because technology changes EVERY DAY, and new threats are created all the time. Updates are important – so don’t ignore them!

I’ve done something stupid

Now you’ve got the software installed, it’s updated. Something comes in your email, you recognize the email address and you open it up to find the sender’s account was hacked, and SPAM emails were sent out from their account. DANG IT. What now? Did McAfee catch it? If you’re not sure, you can RUN THE PROGRAM whenever you feel uneasy. It’ll scan everything, and let you know if there’s something amok. Now you can breathe!

Will it catch everything? No, it’s not perfect. Nothing in technology, or life, is perfect. However, it’s going to provide security that’s necessary, so keep it updated, and run it when you’ve done something super silly, like clicked on a pop-up ad. And remember, make sure all your technology is being protected, it’s not just computers, and laptops anymore!

Gift for the Holidays

If you’ve gotten anyone a computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone for the holidays – throw in a little security software to make their holidays even sweeter. Parents, you’ll be thanking me for this idea! Aunts, uncles, grandparents giving technology as a gift for the holidays, the best thing you can do is give families the gift of safety for all of their devices. If they already have computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones, get them security software as a bonus gift. I bet many families forget how important it is to protect their tablets, and phones. Yes, those can fall to the hands of hackers as well.