Do you think that your Mac will never get a virus? Assume emptying your recycle bin permanently erases a file? Or maybe you think private browsing means your bosses won’t know you wasted half the day visiting TMZ.com? If that’s the case, you’ve fallen for three of the more widespread tech myths.
Not hacker-proof
Caroline Moss, writing for Business Insider, recently ran a column exposing some of the most common technology myths. And one of the most prevalent? That Mac computers are magically virus-proof. The truth is that Macs can get viruses. And now that these computers are becomming widely used you can expect an increase in the number of hackers targeting Apple’s operating system.
The recycling mistake
You’d think that moving a file to your computer’s recycle bin and emptying the bin would definitely permanently delete that file. You’d be wrong. The process frees up the space that your file had sucked up on your hard drive. But it also leaves fragments behind that, Moss writes, could be restored.
Private browsing
Then there’s private browsing, which can be less private than you might think. Even though you’ve told your browser to go incognito doesn’t mean the Web sites you visit are not tracking details from your stay. And when you download files when in private-browsing mode, these files will stay on your computer when you return to regular browsing mode.