This course will review the concepts for keeping your device up to date and secure to a standard level. Find additional info about scheduled system updates and backups, as well as antivirus and security concepts.
Remember that the first layer of computer security begins with you as the operator. The knowledge you have will support your ability to recognize and fight digital bad guys.

Learn about these system security concepts:

Go into your system settings to learn about your device and its info.
Within a certain tab, you will find information about the hardware and the software installed on your machine, and often info about internet accounts linked and used to log in.

Here are some aspects of your computer you may be interested in:

Under your OS settings, you can find system updates and app updates- Each application typically handles its own installation separately and can give you a notification when a new version is published. It is important to keep your device and apps up to date because updates contain useful new features and security patches to repair newly discovered bugs.
How to update you system:

Software updates are handled slightly differently depending on the app.

The risk of a virus is inherent to any device which connects to any other device- even wirelessly.

A computer virus is a type of malicious software (malware) that spreads from one device to another and can cause damage, steal data, or slow down the device.
Think of it like a real germ on your computer which infects and starts causing trouble - causing congestion or showing pop-up ads you didn’t ask for.

Here are signs you may have a virus or malware:

Using an installed antivirus program, follow these steps:

People who create a computer virus don't publish it with a label that says it's a virus. They hide the bad code inside of something that people will want to download, like a game or movie. Viruses can also be attached with files in emails, or executed when those files are opened. Even official apps in your device's app store can contain poorly-written software causing unwanted behavior.

Social engineer is a branch of concepts where the bad actors will attempt to trick you into installing their virus.

Phishing is a basic type of communication exploit, often via email, wherein the hacker will try to trick you into downloading those bad files using charged language and trigger-words.

For example, a person may contact you via email stating that they are from your bank and they need your help to solve an urgent matter regarding your account balance.
It is possible that your account is in jeopardy, in which case you should go to the bank or log on to the real bank website.
The email is filled with words like "urgent" and "need help now" to cause you to forget the basics of internet safety and rush to provide help. This is part of the trick to disguise themselves without legitimacy.

There are certain parts of a point of communication you can check to confirm if it is legit.

This is a concept that typically fits with scams- if the offer seems to good to be true, it usually is.
For example,

Your persona on the internet should be protected as well as your personal body in real life. Once information lands on the internet, it stays for a long time and is hard to remove.

Check your profile privacy settings to understand who can see content on your profile.
In general, it is better to limit the visibility of your data to your friends group, or to not add personally identifiable information at all.

For example, if you post about your upcoming 2-week long cruise, then later post pics of yourself while on the cruise, a savvy burglar could take advantage of this time frame to clear out your house of valuables knowing that you are unable to stop it!

Cookies are pieces of information saved on your computer and shared with websites as you visit them.
Cookies contain data related to you as a visitor, including:

Incognito mode, aka Private Browsing, is a session-layer obfuscation runtime modification which masks your regular browser cookies to websites you visit. This means your browser puts on a metaphorically funny hat and tricks the internet into thinking you are a new stranger in town.
Websites you visit will believe you are a fresh visitor- this is similar to the act of deleting all cookies and wiping the browser before visiting the website, but the special mode often has a few extra features, for example, it will not locally record your website history and won't save any new cookies that may be created.
Incognito mode is useful for visiting websites while having a more anonymous profile, or for preventing the tracking of your internet path.