Quick Tips for Church Computer Safety

Here are some quick tips we ask all our church staff to abide by in order to keep their own, the churchâs, and other people’s data secure. The applications we use are listed (and we believe they are all great), but there are other great apps to use as well.

  • File Storage – Store everything in Dropbox.  It is our backup software.  We can get your stuff back if your computer crashes. Do not keep stuff on your computer hard drive, desktop, or anywhere other than Dropbox.
  • Passwords – Use a secure password management system. Even a secure digital note is better than a sticky note on your desk.  Our recommended password app is 1Password.  Further, use different passwords for all your accounts, so if one is compromised, they are not all compromised.  Change your passwords often.  Use two-factor authentication when available.
  • Accounts – You should be the only one that knows your passwords and has access to your accounts.  If you have a spouse or kids, they cannot know the password to your work account (the computer, your email, church database, etc.).
  • Home Computers & Devices – If you have home computers with any type of church data on them, you cannot have a shared login account with family members.  You are required to have separate accounts set up on the computer and your account on the computer must be password protected.  It can be tricky, but this really applies to access your iPad, iPhone, etc… as well, if they have church files on them.
  • Autolocking All your devices – computer, phone, tablets, etc. – must be set to auto-lock after 5 minutes max.  Again, this also applies to home computers with church data on them.  Never leave your computer unattended.
  • Virus & Malware Protection – You should have up-to-date virus and malware protection on your computer.  This applies to Mac products too.  The church provides protection for your work computer through BitDefender.  If you do not have protection on your home computer you are responsible for purchasing adequate protection or removing any work files/accounts/programs immediately from the computer.
  • Updates – You should make sure your computer and all devices are up-to-date with all the latest patches and upgrades. This applies to both the operating system and applications. 
  • Use a Firewall – This is a feature in the operating system that makes things safer. You can easily turn this on for both Windows and Mac.
  • Use Reliable Browsers – Chrome, Firefox and Safari.  If you are using a browser other than these three you must receive permission.
  • VPN (Virtual Private Network) – Use a VPN, especially when off the church and your home network. Our recommended VPN is NordVPN.
  • Enable File Extensions – Enable file extensions so you can see the entire filename.  Many viruses come with two extensions such as picture.jpg.ex, so be looking out.
  • Other Simple Things: Do not open files from people you do not know. Ignore emails that say you won a contest. Watch out for online and phone scams (Microsoft or Apple will not ask you to call them, neither will the IRS or your bank). Ignore pop-ups, especially inside web browsers, that state your computer has a problem. When installing software, watch for bundled software that installs several programs. Don’t click on things you are unsure about.
  • Finally, remember you have an ethical and legal responsibility to keep church data, especially people’s personal information, safe.

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

Leave a Reply to online pharmacy busted Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

4,158 thoughts on “Quick Tips for Church Computer Safety

  1. I’ve been browsing online more than 4 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all web owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be a lot more useful than ever before.

  2. I was wondering if you ever considered changing the page layout of your website? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or two pictures. Maybe you could space it out better?

  3. hello there and thank you for your information – I have definitely picked up something new from right here. I did however expertise a few technical points using this site, since I experienced to reload the website many times previous to I could get it to load properly. I had been wondering if your hosting is OK? Not that I am complaining, but slow loading instances times will very frequently affect your placement in google and can damage your high quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I am adding this RSS to my e-mail and could look out for a lot more of your respective intriguing content. Make sure you update this again very soon.

  4. When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several e-mails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that service? Many thanks!

  5. I’m hooked on Wazamba Casino, it pulses with a casino energy as fierce as a tribal drum. The casino’s game lineup is a rainforest of delights, with modern casino slots that mesmerize like a shaman’s chant. Its agents are as swift as a cheetah on the hunt, reachable via chat or email. The casino process is transparent with no hidden traps, still more free spins at the casino would be wild. All in all, Wazamba Casino promises casino entertainment that’s untamed for fans of modern casino slots! By the way the casino site is a graphical wonder, easing a thrilling casino experience.
    wazamba ОєПЃО№П„О№ОєОµПѓ|

  6. Je suis fou de Tortuga Casino, il propose une aventure de casino qui navigue comme un galion au vent. L’eventail de jeux du casino est un coffre de butin, offrant des sessions de casino en direct qui rugissent comme la mer. Les agents du casino sont rapides comme un vent de tempete, avec une aide qui hisse les voiles. Les gains du casino arrivent a une vitesse de galion, parfois des bonus de casino plus frequents seraient epiques. Pour resumer, Tortuga Casino c’est un casino a aborder sans tarder pour les passionnes de casinos en ligne ! De surcroit l’interface du casino est fluide et eclatante comme un ocean au soleil, donne envie de replonger dans le casino sans fin.
    tortuga casino promo code|

  7. Adoro o giro de Bet4Slot Casino, oferece uma aventura de cassino que gira como um piao em chamas. A selecao de titulos do cassino e uma roda de prazeres, oferecendo sessoes de cassino ao vivo que giram como um tornado. O servico do cassino e confiavel e cheio de energia, garantindo suporte de cassino direto e sem travar. O processo do cassino e limpo e sem turbulencias, porem as ofertas do cassino podiam ser mais generosas. Resumindo, Bet4Slot Casino e um cassino online que e um redemoinho de diversao para os viciados em emocoes de cassino! Vale dizer tambem a plataforma do cassino brilha com um visual que e puro redemoinho, o que torna cada sessao de cassino ainda mais giratoria.
    bet4slot ГѓВ© regulamentada|

  8. My coder is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on a number of websites for about a year and am concerned about switching to another platform. I have heard great things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!

  9. Hi there! This article could not be written any better! Looking at this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He constantly kept preaching about this. I am going to send this information to him. Fairly certain he’ll have a great read. I appreciate you for sharing!

  10. Greetings I am so glad I found your weblog, I really found you by accident, while I was searching on Google for something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to say thanks for a incredible post and a all round thrilling blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to look over it all at the minute but I have saved it and also added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the awesome work.

  11. Oh my goodness! Incredible article dude! Thank you, However I am experiencing issues with your RSS. I don’t know the reason why I cannot join it. Is there anybody else getting the same RSS issues? Anyone who knows the answer will you kindly respond? Thanks!!

  12. Hi, I think your website might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your blog site in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, wonderful blog!