Learning from OTHERS mistakes

Google ‘Learning from our mistakes’ and there is a plethora of advice on offer. However wouldn’t it be better to learn from OTHERS’ mistakes and avoid the pain of getting it wrong?

The recent NHS cyber attack is a perfect example.

The NHS suffered avoidable hacking attacks and ransom demands because it hadn’t kept its Windows operating systems (OS) up to date and was even using operating system such as XP which are no longer being updated by Microsoft. In the case of current OSs these were updated as recently as March 2017 and this would take place automatically if your computer was set to automatically update your Windows OS.

So here’s your opportunity to learn from their mistake and avoid the usual pain of your own mistakes.

  1. If you are running XP don’t connect your computer to the Internet untl you have updated to a current version of Windows.
  2. Make sure that your current version of Windows is up to date. Switch on auto-update.
  3. Ensure that your computer has virus protections software installed.
  4. Install firewall software.

So there you are. For once, a lesson learned without the pain of the mistake.