Tips for safe computing

General Article

	Ron Hood, Information Technology

Simple steps you can take to protect the center's computers and information

1. Make sure your home computer is current on critical patches. Use Windows Update to automatically download and install critical patches daily.
   
   
2. Make sure your home computer is running a virus scanner with an automatically updated signature file.
   
   
3. Be wary of unusual e-mail with attachments — it could be a virus that has slipped past our scanners.
   
   
4. Be wary of normal looking e-mail asking you for personal information (passwords, credit card numbers, bank account numbers) — it could be an evil person on a "phishing" expedition.
   
   
5. Don't blindly click 'OK' on pop-ups that appear when you're surfing the Internet. Many of these will install unnecessary and unwanted software that may spy on your computer usage and bog down your computer's performance. The center's firewall and virus scanners will *not* protect you from this type of software, so you must remain vigilant and protect yourself.
   
   
6. Always keep your HutchNet password secret — something that is known to you and you alone. It is the key to the center's information assets (research data and financial information), important services (e-mail, remote access, network resources) and your personal information (benefits and salary).
   
   
7. If you read personal e-mail from a center computer (e.g., HotMail, Yahoo, AOL) never open any messages with attachments. The center's e-mail virus scanners only work on center e-mail accounts, so attachments in personal mailboxes may be unsafe.
   
   
8. Never store important data on your desktop computer's hard disk. If the loss of a file would cost you time, money, or concern then that file should be stored on a network file server that is backed up every day.
   
   
9. Protect the confidentiality of information on your computer by using a screen lock when you leave it unattended. Most Microsoft operating systems allow you to manually lock the screen by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del followed by Enter or you can configure the screen to lock automatically after a few minutes of inactivity.
   
   
10. Don't download and install frivolous software from the Internet. Many of the games, screen savers, and wallpapers contain malicious code that tracks your computer usage and may contribute to system instability. If you don't need the software to do your job then don't install it.
    
    

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