Eight ways to secure your computer and online identity – Part 2

From Information Resources and Technologies

Continuing from last week’s article, here are the next four tips on how to secure your personal computer and your online identity.

Tip 5. Use strong passwords

Passwords are the most common means in the computing world to identify you are who say you are and give you access to your files. You should always use strong passwords to protect access to your computer and your online accounts. Hackers and viruses often attempt to access accounts by using programs that guess passwords until they get it right. The longer your password is and the harder it is to guess the more difficult it is for programs to crack your password.

At a minimum your passwords should contain the following, which are also the minimum requirements for your UST Net ID password:

• Be at least six characters in length.
• Contain upper and lower case letters.
• Contain numbers or symbols (both is better).

In addition, you should avoid using:

• words that can be found in a dictionary as this makes your passwords easier to guess.
• obvious facts about yourself that would be easy to guess, such as your name, kids’ names or birth dates.

Password security is a balance. The longer and more complex your password is the harder it will be to guess by another person or program; however, if you make your password so complex that you need to write it down, then you have lost a considerable degree of your security. So as a rule of thumb choose the longest password that meets the criteria above and that you can remember without having to write it down.

Tip 6. Be wary of suspicious e-mail

Originally, computer viruses were largely spread by e-mail attachments. These viruses were often hidden in cute little games or documents that were attached to the message. Most people are now aware of these dangers and are cautious to not open suspicious e-mail attachments. Also, e-mail providers, including our system here at UST, are designed to remove or block known virus infected e-mails.

Even though these types of attacks are well-known, it is important to remember that you should never open attachments from unknown or unexpected senders. Viruses can be hidden in nearly any type of file, and run automatically when you open the file.

A newer trend is e-mail phishing. Phishing e-mails attempt to trick you into providing confidential information by posing as legitimate business e-mails. Common phishing schemes arrive as false messages from vendors such as banks, eBay, and PayPal requesting that you update your information with them. The information that is requested could include items such as your password, bank account numbers and Social Security number. If you click on the link in the e-mail you are taken to a web page that looks like the service provider’s Web page but is actually another site that is being used to collect personal information from unsuspecting people.

If you are unsure whether an e-mail you received from your bank or provider, such as eBay, is legitimate your best advice is to call the provider or go to that provider’s web page directly (not through the link provided in the e-mail).

In general use common sense. If an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. If you suddenly get a request to update your private information online, be wary just as you would be if someone called you out of the blue or knocked on your door!

Tip 7. Don’t forget physical security

The previous six tips cover ways that you can protect your computer from online threats. It is important to remember that the physical security of your computer is still critical. Computer theft, especially for laptops, is extremely common.

• Always lock your room or office when you are away.
• Don’t leave your computer where it can be seen from the doorway or window if possible.
• Lock up your laptop with a cable lock that is secured to a solid piece of furniture.

If you must store confidential or private information on your personal computer you should strongly consider using a disk encryption program that will prevent others from reading your data.

UST faculty and staff should never store private or confidential UST data on any local computer. UST private or confidential data should always be stored on UST’s central systems, and secured so that only those who need access to view the information.

Keep in mind that if thieves steal your laptop they will have all of the time they need to break into your operating system. They can use cracking tools that are readily available on the Internet. It may take them minutes, or it may take weeks, but once they have physical access you have to assume they can eventually gain access to everything on your laptop unless the drive is encrypted. If your computer is stolen or lost, you should consider all of the data on it to be compromised unless it was encrypted.

Tip 8. Backup your files on a regular basis

While we generally think of security as methods of prevention, it always wise to be prepared in case something does happen to your computer or account. You should always back up your data to a second source to protect yourself against hardware failure as well as viruses and hackers.

These days storage is relatively cheap. Depending on how much data you need to protect you can use CDs, USB thumb drives, or external USB hard drives to backup your data. CDs are extremely cheap, and external hard drives can be purchased for less than $100.

UST students, faculty and staff also have 500 MB of network storage available to them. This storage can be accessed from anywhere that you have Internet access, is backed up regularly, and is scanned for viruses. View more information on using your MyStorage space here.

Always use passwords to secure your backup data, and ideally store these backups in a separate location from your computer. If your laptop gets stolen and the backup data is in the computer bag with it, then your backup will not help you!

Remember, there are really no "silver bullets" in computer security. The best way to keep your personal computer and your online accounts secure is a defense in depth. Each of the eight items described in this series provides a layer of defense for your computer and online identity. Used together they should greatly reduce the risk of your computer being infected by a virus or compromised by a hacker. Part of that prevention is that using these tips will make your computer look less inviting to an attacker who will move on to other easier targets. And lastly, you will have backups of your files as an insurance policy in case something does go wrong.

For more information on these security tips, contact the IRT Tech Desk, (651) 962-6230, or check out IRT on the Web.