Why It Is Important to Take Care of Cybersecurity Threats In 2023

Some MacBook owners are reluctant to bother creating a proper cybersecurity strategy because they believe that their Mac has enough built-in tools to protect the system. Besides, since macOS is not as popular as Windows, hackers are less likely to develop malware and viruses that target Mac owners. It also helps when the operating system engineers react to the latest threats and push hotfixes in an update.

Nevertheless, it is still necessary to take proper action and secure your laptop from potential threats despite these aspects. Whether you use the computer or another person, the odds of attracting malware or virus are still there. And in case you are still on the fence about putting effort into protecting your Mac from cybersecurity problems, the benefits below should make you change your mind.

More Storage Space

Let’s start with extra storage on a MacBook. It is no secret that Macs are not the best computers when it comes to total available storage. When you have less than 10 percent of total drive storage free, there will be performance issues. And the recent trend to replace HDDs with SSDs for better performance made the storage problem more common.

Preventing malware and viruses is one way to free up space on Macbook, or rather not get the computer attacked. Unfortunately, some viruses consume disk space. And unless you take care of them with a proper antivirus tool, they will continue to snowball and cause further problems. 

Better Performance

Take Care of Cybersecurity Threats

Another notable benefit of having a malware-free computer is its performance. Even insignificant viruses can cause major performance issues. For example, the MacBook might start restarting or crashing when you are working. FPS in video games is likely to drop as well. A poor internet browser performance is also one of the possible outcomes, not to mention a worse battery lifespan.

If you use the MacBook rarely or do not rely on resource-heavy applications, noticing a difference might be difficult. However, like already mentioned, cybersecurity threats can snowball. So do not wait and take action as soon as you see the potential performance. And react to antivirus warnings about potentially corrupted files. 

Online Privacy

The issue with online privacy is that someone may expose personal information without malware or virus on a computer. So, for example, oversharing on social media or Discord and other communication platforms could come back to bite you. 

For example, if you post your birthday or your pet’s name, someone may try to use those combinations as passwords. And if it turns out that you use that information as a password for your emails, social media, or other online profiles, who knows what they might do with such information.

Now, if you are smart enough about your password usage and avoid oversharing, do not dismiss what a potential malware attack might do to your online privacy. A keylogger or another threat could still get hold of your information.

Another thing to note is public Wi-Fi. While your home internet should be secure for the most part, the same thing cannot be said about the internet you can use in hotels, cafes, libraries, and other public areas. 

These networks lack the necessary security protocols, and joining them with your MacBook may be a bad idea. A hacker may be waiting after setting their trap, and if you join the network unprepared, they will attack you.

Now, to fight off these potential threats, it is recommended to use a virtual private network. A VPN encrypts your browsing history, changes your IP address, and gives a different location. In other words, you can still join public Wi-Fi, but it will be as if you are not using your computer. Thus, if someone intended to cause your Mac harm, they would have difficulty going through security layers.

Lastly, if you want to improve the overall security and privacy while on a MacBook, enable the Firewall to prevent unwanted requests, the tool is disabled by default. 

Mac File Security

Take Care of Cybersecurity Threats

The last benefit of preventing cybersecurity threats on your MacBook is to prevent loss of data. Even a minor virus could snowball out of control and suddenly delete most if not all of the important files that you keep on the laptop. And the odds of restoring wiped data are not as high as some might think.

Sure, you could argue that backing up data in cloud storage is a good preventive measure. Combining an external HDD with Time Machine is also one of the options. Nevertheless, you cannot predict when malware might strike, and the backup process might not be completed in time. Thus, instead of risking it, you should put enough effort into minimizing the odds of a malware attack deleting MacBook files and leaving you with no options to restore them. 

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