Information Protection and Security

Patents, copyrights, know-how and disclosures are all important parts of university research.  Make sure research notes and other confidential data are protected from online view and within any contractual agreement. Mobile equipment (laptop) is not appropriate to store informationlike research due to the ease of loss. 

Complaints about phishing have been coming in for a couple of years.  Most of us know what phishing is, and when something sounds like it's too good to be true, it probably is.  

Today university students depend on laptops and, as surely as batteries run out of juice, some of them will be lost or stolen. Yet the replacement value of the hardware is the least of the problem. The loss of personal information that might be on your laptop, the danger of identity theft…then there’s the academic side.  Make sure you back-up your work, papers, notes and other important "grade heavy" materials.

It’s reasonable to believe that cyber threats will increase in the future. Organized cybercrime groups have become skilled at coordinating  networks of infected computers (botnets), and configuring them to gather large stores of stolen data. Meanwhile, scammers have become efficient in turning stolen data into cash. As members of a botnet t

Using your debit card online is risky. It’s a lot easier to deny and rectify a charge purchase.  It’s more difficult to rectify a debit charge you never made or a bank account that’s been compromised.  Before you use information relating your bank account online…get curious with your bank and ask questions.  

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…many users use the networks for business purposes.  Keep in mind that your chatter or tweeting does affect the way the world sees you now, and in your future.  Some comments can end up with huge consequences. Even your user name can make a difference. Check your privacy configuration and make sure you keep most of your posts between friends and family.

Conficker is a worm that caused a big stir a few months ago.  It compromises unpatched computers. 

Think it’s easy to spot phishing?  Recent reports from national universities suggest that 3 of 5 faculty members were successfully phished, and 1 of 5 students and staff.  We still have some work to do to convince people not to click on that link in email…or provide personal information over an insecure network (insecure wireless or email).
STOP. THINK. SECURE IT!

Social networks like Facebook and Twitter are fun and valuable and keep us up to date about what's going on with friends and family.  Keep in mind that pictures and other created materials are generally available for anyone's use when they're posted.  Read your social network's 'terms' or 'privacy page'.  They have a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content posted. This goes for online photo storage websites as well.  So if you post them, don't be surprised if you see them somewhere else.

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month!  IT security is our shared responsibility. All of the technology in the world won't help if we have easy to crack passwords.  To create a complex password pick a phrase, and use the first letter of each word of the phrase with your house number in the middle of it.  Make sure it's at least 8 characters.  Keep an eye on this blog for some easy tips to remember!  STOP. THINK. SECURE IT!