There are a lot of different ways to do computing these days. Some people still use the same old desktop computer because they are used to it or they need the power that it provides. Other people will use a laptop for their computing needs. And there are the people who look purely for mobility and they use their smartphones as a computer. But then there are the people who use their tablets. An idea that not too long ago seemed unlikely to catch on is now blowing up in a big way. There are millions of tablets being sold every year and it looks like the trend is only going to get bigger and bigger. And that is why there must be changes made to adjust to this new reality.

One of the changes that needs to be made is how we use these new tablets securely. Right now people do not see much of a threat when they use their tablets. While they have adjusted to the fact that they need to be careful with their desktops and laptops, they are not so careful with their tablets. They do not have their tablets password protected, they leave them sitting around where everyone can get to them and they visit whatever site they feel like instead of being careful when they click links. There is a lot that they do wrong that can really come back to haunt them if they do not change their ways. You have to make sure that you are able to keep the bad guys off of your tablet or they will not need to try and hack your computers anymore.

The first thing that you need to make sure that you do if you own a tablet is allow only people that you know to access it. Most tablets will allow you to set it up where you would need a password to access the screen after it goes to sleep. While there is a good chance that you do not want that to happen every time, you can set it up where it asks for a password after a certain amount of time (a complex password is, of course, better than a 4 digit PIN). Limiting the access of who can use your tablet is the first step in making sure that you will be able to stop any accidental leaking of information to people who you do not want to see it.

After that you want to make sure that all of your apps in the tablet are secure. If you have any apps that access sensitive information such as your bank account or stock reports then you really need to make sure that they are secure. You also want to make sure you watch which apps have special permissions on your tablet. You do not want every app to be able to access everything on your tablet. If an app does not need to go on the internet, but yet it does, then you might want to find out why it does this.

You’ll also want to be careful when connecting to the net, especially if using your tablet for business (see : the risks of working away from the office). Whilst coffee shops may provide a pleasant working environment they also tend to encourage the unsuspecting to connect to unsecured Wi-Fi hotspots which allow eavesdroppers to gain access to your data.

Keeping anything safe can be a pain to deal with but in this data driven world it is important that you do so. You do not want to give out any information that you do not have to. If you do then that information can be easily used against you. Just remember that with a device like the tablet, you can give out information just as easily as you do on your computer.

photo: sidduz