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Why You Should Keep Sensitive Files Secure (and How to Do it)
If this were the 20th century, we’d store secure documents by shoving them into an iron safe and spinning the combination lock. But in the 21st century — the information age — where are we supposed to store our most important documents when many of them are digital?
Let’s take a deep dive into storing files, such as medical records and financial documents, on your computer to help you keep sensitive information away from prying eyes.
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Isn’t it safe enough to store your tax and medical files in your computer’s Documents folder? Perhaps, but your information may not be as secure. It is possible that anyone with a bit of knowledge can gain access to your documents and sensitive information, even if your user account is password-protected.
We’ll walk you through a few ways to keep your digital documents a bit more secure and give you tips on how to beef up your computer’s overall security.
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Let’s start with the basics.
Your computer stores its files on either a traditional hard drive or a modern Solid State Drive. We won’t go into the details of these two technologies, just know that your important documents are placed on these internal drives so you can easily access them later. But, we want to ensure that only those with a password can access those files — that is where encryption comes into play.
When you encrypt a drive on your computer, you ensure the contents of that drive can only be accessed by someone with a password. Encryption works even if someone decides to rip your drive out of your computer and hook it up to another machine for inspection. That’s why it is essential for storing important documents.
In some circumstances, your computer will automatically enable drive encryption. Here is how to ensure your computer’s drive is encrypted on both macOS and Windows.
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Drive Encryption on macOS
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Drive Encryption on Windows
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It’s no secret that here at The Penny Hoarder, we are big fans of password managers to keep your digital life more secure with only a bit of effort.
Not only can password managers securely store your passwords in a virtual vault, they also can store important documents and notes. We’ve highlighted how to store documents in our top three favorite options — 1Password, Bitwarden and LastPass — below.
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1Password
Bitwarden
LastPass
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Following the above recommendations, including encrypting your drive and storing sensitive files within a password manager, are surefire ways to exponentially increase the safety of your most sensitive documents.
But don’t forget to keep up with regular security housekeeping, including:
- Keeping Your Computer Updated: It is critical to keep your computer’s software updated so you receive the latest security patches and fixes. Follow these links to learn how to keep your Windows PC updated or your Mac.
- Ensuring Security Software is Running: Whether you have a Windows PC or a Mac, it doesn’t hurt to have security software running to keep an eye on your computer and keep away any malicious bits of software. We recommend using AVG Free Antivirus if you are looking for a no-cost solution.
- Keeping Your Passwords Secure: Whether you’re setting up the login password for your computer or the password for accessing your password manager, be sure to follow our tips for creating secure passwords. (Hint: “password” isn’t a good password.)
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