Safe Computing Practices

Before Connecting to the Network

Over the past few years there has been an increase in the number of viruses and worms developed to try and infect personal computers. As well as these threats, there is always the threat of unauthorized access of the computer when connected to a high speed network. When a computer is connected to the University network it will need to be protected against these types of attacks.

Vulnerable or infected computers pose a risk to the entire University network. If a computer has been infected it will be disconnected from the network until it has been cleaned. Before connecting your computer to campus, here are some steps to follow to help ensure security of the system.

• Install Critical Update Patches - Make sure your system has all of the latest operating system patches. On Windows systems, you can obtain these from the Microsoft Windows Update site. On Macintosh systems, you can go to the Apple icon and select "Software Update."

• Make Sure You Have an Anti-Virus Installed - If you do not already have a sufficient anti-virus product installed, upon arrival to campus you may download a student copy of Symantec Anti-Virus for free. Make sure that your anti-virus program has current virus definitions and is set to download updates automatically (with an up-to-date subscription if needed).

• Enable Your Firewall - If you are a user of Windows XP or Mac OS X, enable the firewall on all network connections. This will prevent your machine from numerous attacks. Please visit the online help page for assistance in enabling the firewall. If you do not have Windows XP or Mac OS X it is recommended that you use a third party firewall.

• Scan Your System for Viruses - There are many online scanners that will scan your system to make sure that it is free of viruses. A couple of these are: (Note: These do not work on Macintosh Systems.)

• Symantec Security Check
  Trend Micro Online Virus Scanner

  Depending upon the speed of your connection these could take some time, but are necessary to insure you are not bringing an infected system on campus.

  Also, on the same Symantec site you will find an online security scanner that will test your system to see the level of security your system has. It will then make recommendations to make the system more secure. We highly recommend running this scan and making any suggested changes.

• Use Anti-Spyware Software - ResNET highly recommends that your run an anti-spyware program. We recommend using Microsoft Windows Defender. We also use Lavasoft Ad-aware and Spybot: Search and Destroy. No matter what anti-spyware solution you use it's important that you keep up to date with definitions and run scans regularly.

• Set Your Computer to Download Critical Updates on a Regular Basis - This is a crucial component in ensuring that your system is always up to date with the latest security fixes. If you are not sure how to do this, please visit the online help site.

After Connecting to the Network

Once on campus it is important to follow a few safety guidelines.

• Be Wary of Opening Links or Files Sent Over Instant Messenger (IM) Programs - A common way viruses are distributed is via Instant Messenger programs. Often the virus will compromise the user's IM program and send it to everyone on their "buddy list". This means that even if you know the sender, you need to be wary of opening the link or the file. Make sure to verify that the person is in fact intending to send you the file and it is does not contain any malicious code.

• Be Wary of Opening Email Attachments - Many common viruses and other malicous software is spread through email attachments. It is important to follow a few procedures to help avoid problems with email viruses.

  • Don't open attachments that you were not expecting and that were not mentioned in the body of the email.
  • If you get an email from a sender you do not know and it contains an attachment, delete it right away!
  • Make sure to keep your anti-virus program up to date.
  • If you send an email with an attachment, make sure to mention the attachment and it's contents.
  
  

• Use Secure Passwords - Strong passwords are important because they are the keys you use to access personal information that you've stored on your computer and in your online accounts.

  • A Strong Password Contains
    • at least 8 characters
    • a mix of uppercase and lowercase characters
    • numbers
    • non-alphanumeric characters (for example, punctuation marks or characters from other language sets)
  • A Strong Password Does Not Contain
    • your private or public id, or any variant of it (such as reversed etc.)
    • your first, middle, or last name in any form, your initials or nickname(s)
    • someone else's first, middle or last name in any form, their initials or nickname(s)
    • information easily attainable about you, such as your favorite movie
    • all digits or letters of one case
    • a word contained in any dictionary, in any language, spelling lists, or any other list of words or abbreviations
    • dates, of any format such as 5.25.1977
    • keyboard sequences such as qwerty
  
  

  An easy way to check your password is Microsoft's password check.