How can you tell if your computer is safe? In the digital age, it is easy to believe that your computer may be secure from influences and hackers outside of your home, but what most do not realize is that unless they are consistently running security checks and updating their firewalls and security systems, they are at risk of someone accessing their private information. If you don’t test your security, you might have been at risk of having a wrong setting active or unpatched flaws / viruses and you might never know it. Companies regularly hire hackers to test their security for them. Fortunately, you can do it yourself for free. One way you could also figure out if your computer has any viruses or programs that should not be there is to recall any websites you may have gone onto that could have been on the fishier side or got a pop up about your computer being at risk and clicked on it. These are ways hackers go about downloading viruses and scams onto your PC so that anytime they would want to, they can go and access any information you have on your PC, including any saved passwords and websites you might frequently visit. By testing your computer settings, you can run a diagnostic to determine whether or not your PC has been compromised, if so, it will tell you some of the programs that might be leaking your data to others, it is not the best way however, as some programs are designed to hide from the system. Another way is to update your browser plugins, by keeping it up to date, you are downloading all of the patches and new security updates that the browser might be giving you. One of the most important ways you can also tell if your computer is safe is by running and testing your firewall, while most PC’s do already come with a firewall installed, you can also purchase firewalls from third parties that double the chances of your data being protected. The firewall keeps your computer from being seen and targeted online, and even if they do find your computer, the firewall helps to repel any attempts they could make to access it.