10 May 5 Tech Myths You Still Believe

Tech Myths You STILL Believe

It’s important to be wary of the changing technology in the world. Developments happen fast, and with this speed comes uncertainty, loss of control, privacy, and in many cases, privacy. Because of this, we do our best to adopt healthy habits to improve our place in the digital world.

On the inverse, however, from this care and concern arises a unique “problem.” You can inadvertently fall prey to tech myths. Small and large, these unspoken “legends” add friction to our everyday tech use without us even realizing it. Small and large, you might be shocked to know that common knowledge you had about your phone, PC, and/or mobile device isn’t true at all.

Tech Myths to Abandon, Today

Myth #1: Too Small for Cybercrime

Let’s debunk this evergreen myth right now, because many still believe it today. It is a dangerous idea to believe you are too small to be a victim of a cyberattack. Threat actors do not care. If you value your data, then it’s valuable to them. Whether you’re the target of a small-scale ransomware strike, malware intrusion, or phishing scam, hackers are happy to scrape a few dollars off a target if they know they’ll achieve success.

Everyone is a potential target, so protect yourself accordingly.

Myth #2: You Should Defrag Your SSD

An uncommon one, but important all the same. You may have performed routine maintenance on your older PC’s by “defragging,” whereby the system reorganizes space on a disc drive to help improve performance. Back when we relied on HDD’s in the bulk, defragging was an effective way to do some memory cleaning.

This is not the case for SSDs. In fact, defragging an SSD can reduce its lifespan and there’s no measurable increase in performance. SSDs are designed in such a way to automatically defrag, so, this hangover from personal IT maintenance days doesn’t quite fit the modern alternatives.

Myth #3: Closing Apps Saves Battery

Here’s an easy assumption: closing background apps on your phone will save power. A sensible conclusion, right? Less apps means less power draw. Except that’s not the case. Smartphones and modern mobile devices are designed to rotate through multiple apps. In fact, closing apps creates an inverse effect, whereby it causes the phone to use more power to restart the apps.

Therefore, if you’re closing apps to save power, this is a modern tech myth.

Myth #4: You MUST Turn your PC Off After Usage

This is another hangover from the older tech days. It was generally understood that, after completing all tasks or usage of a PC system, turning it off protected the hardware and software. But with modern changes, evolutions, and advancements, this is indeed a thing of the past.

These days, it is perfectly acceptable to leave your system in a sleep state. For instance, if you need to leave your module for several hours, a sleep state will “freeze” the system’s current memory, putting it in a sort of low-performance hibernation until accessed again.

While powering off is still fine, it is not necessary every time you’re finished with the PC, and often best if you plan to be away from a PC for an extended period (12-24 hours or longer is a good metric).

Myth #5: You’re Invisible in Incognito Mode

Data privacy is one of the hardest things to protect these days, and understandably, of major importance when browsing the web. Some, therefore, utilizing “private” mode or incognito mode in hopes to protect their browsing activity, history, and general information.

It is a myth, however, that “Incognito Mode” (or similar browser functions) makes you invisible online. Here’s the reality check: Incognito Mode only prevents cookies, history, and browsing data from being saved on your device. It does not hide your traffic, activity, or IP address. For instance, if you enable Incognito Mode to browse a website like Amazon, Amazon can still track your activity, browsing history, and create a digital “fingerprint” of your activity.

For better, secured browsing, such as through encrypted means, it is better to utilize a VPN to achieve stronger privacy results.

Conclusion

Technology changes at a rapid pace these days, and as such sprinted past many of the age-old traditions of early hardware/software rulesets.

If you’re still unclear about tech myths or want additional assistance for your IT headaches, reach out to Bytagig for additional information.