How an Upgraded PC Can
Protect Against Online Scams

Computers are a fundamental part of most people’s daily life – they are how we work, how we connect with other people, how we shop, and, in a world with social distancing measures taking priority, how we do almost everything social.

Aside from when they actually buy a new PC, many people don’t spend much time considering security vulnerabilities and therefore don’t realize the threat their old PC poses to their online security – often, when people find this out, it’s far too late.

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Signs You Need a New PC

Lenovo has a lot of information about the dangers of old computers to any computer users, but they sum it up well in one sentence:

‘For gamers, it can be the difference between victory and defeat. For business professionals, it can be the difference between getting that proposal done on time and missing the deadline.’

A reliable and up-to-date computer can impact almost every action that we conduct in the digital realm. An old PC can leave you highly vulnerable to online scams, but it can be difficult to spot the signs of having a computer that is vulnerable to scams until it is too late. That being said, there are some warning signs that show you when it is time to update your computer, so you don’t get taken surprise one day by the Blue Screen of Death:

  • Noisy fans or hard drives
  • Trouble with multitasking
  • Lengthy startup and shutdown times
  • Notifications that are running out of Radom Access Memory (RAM)
  • Your computer frequently crashes when running applications
  • Your computer no longer holds charge
  • You can no longer update to the newest operating systems

These are just warning signs that your computer is too old, but there are distinct security risks that come with using old computers that don’t display many warning signs at all.

The Crux of the Matter – Exploits

Essentially, the main reason why you might need to upgrade your computer for security reasons is that the older a computer gets, the more weaknesses hackers or computer manufacturers detect. When computer manufacturers upgrade their hardware and software, they fix their system’s detectable threats. This can be explained simply by looking at the difference between Windows OS capabilities.

If you run Windows XP on your computer, you’re 600% more likely to be infected with malware than if you’re running Windows 8. Many older computers simply don’t have the processing power to run the latest version of Windows or whichever OS they choose. Many older computers use windows Server 2003, but it reached its end-of-support in July 2015, meaning that it is more likely to be targeted by hackers and scammers.

Scams

Online scams are a tricky problem to fix because it is often about the computer’s individual owner. Scammers that hack computers rely upon something called social engineering. Essentially, this means they phone or email you and manipulate you into completing various actions that remotely hand over your computer to them for them to do what they want with it.

The good news is that upgrading your computer instantly helps with this. That’s because those sorts of scammers still make the most of exploits – little holes in the security system of a computer. If you have an updated computer, you simply won’t be the target of many scammers.