Protect Your PC and Identity
The following information outlines basic areas in which you should consider in your quest for protecting your personal computer from malicious attacks or severe performance degradation. This list is not exhaustive and there are numerous resources on the internet to further learn how to increase protection.
Basic Concepts
Power it Up or Down?
Protect Your Identity
Password Security
Stabilizing Your Windows PC
Software Utilities for fighting Viruses and Adware/Spyware
Operating System Critical/Security Updates
Firewall and Routers
Disable File and Print Sharing
Virus Protection
Adware/Spyware Removal & Protection
Instant Messenger Auto-Download
Junk Email Handling - GroupWise Users (faculty/staff) only
Create SPAM Rules - all SVSU Users
Power it Up or Down?
The best way to protect your computer is to not leave it on when it is not in use. A computer that is turned off cannot be hacked or infected (and you conserve energy costs). If you need to leave it powered on, then disconnect the cable from the network or enable the computer's password security. Again, if you sever the connection via power or network cable then your system can't be compromised from an external source (internet hacker).
Protect Your Identity
There are so many ways for your personal identity to be compromised, the best action you can do is to not share it under any circumstance (difficult in today's high-paced lifestyle). When using the internet, you might want to consider the use of several accounts (try not to use the same username and password for the various accounts you might use: SVSU, Hotmail, Yahoo, your online bank, eBay, PayPal, etc...). The following are some "basic" things to consider.
Do not use your SVSU email accounts when subscribing to different services on the internet - protecting yourself against unsolicited spam and account exposure. Limit how much personal identification you provide (social security number, student ID number, driver's license, checking account routing numbers) via email or internet websites. You can never be sure who might be snooping or harvesting/selling the data.
Become educated on best practices for protecting your identity and reduce your potential to falling victim to identity theft. Read up on how to GetNetWise and beware of Phishing schemes designed to fool you into providing your personal data to fraudulent web-sites disguising themselves as the original site (scams portraying themselves as eBay, PayPal, and online banks are often used to phish information from you). Legitimate companies don't ask for you to verify your account information via email or pop-ups.
- Don't respond to email messages or pop-ups regarding your online accounts.
- Don't click on links in email messages or copy/paste them into your browser. Instead, open a new browser window and type in the website you know to be accurate. Phishers will disguise the links to look legitimate, but often reroute them to another to collect your data.
- Look for indicators that the site is secure, like a lock icon on the browser’s status bar or a URL for a website that begins “https:” (the “s” stands for “secure”). Unfortunately, no indicator is foolproof; some phishers have forged security icons. Pay attention to the URL, as sometimes you might see a series of numbers rather than the actual site name (for instance, a phisher might make their link look like http:/www.tcfbank.com and when clicked it takes you to http:/62.234.232.22/account/secure.php).
- If you get spam email that you think is deceptive, forward it to spam(at)uce.gov or visit the FTC-SPAM site for more information.
If you think you've been duped or have fallen victim to fraud, change your passwords immediately and contact your account customer service via phone and contact the FTC and file a complaint.
Password Security
Use complex passwords on all active accounts and never share them or write them down. Use different passwords for different accounts (outside of SVSU). Users tend to use simplistic, memorable passwords like their name or pet name; which are the easiest to crack. There are utilities that are able to crack passwords, but when they're longer and comprised of random numbers, upper and lower-case letters and symbols it is more difficult to crack. Six digit passwords are easier to crack than nine digits, as is "rabbit" compared to "9R*b6!1T".
Use a combination that has meaning to you; use an acronym intermixed with upper and lower-case letters, use an area code or last four digits of your phone number or address, and mix in a few special characters.
If you need to temporarily leave your computer on and walk away, press CTRL-ALT-DEL or press the WindowsKey-L to use enable the Windows Password Lock.
Key point is to not share your password or make it readily accessible to other people (like writing it down and keeping it near the computer) AND you should change it often.
Software Utilities for fighting Viruses and Adware/Spyware
The software utilities listed below should be installed, kept current and used on a periodic basis to help keep your system clean, protected and maintain optimum performance while connected to the internet. They are FREE and are some of the best utilities in the industry that will provide protection and cleanup of viruses and malware - FREE and BEST - who can beat that?
• Symantec Antivirus 9 & 10
- FREE for SVSU Employees and Registered Students• Ad-Aware and SpyBot Search & Destroy
- Both in tandem provide the best detection and scrubbing of your system
for the eradication of adware and spyware.• Spyware Blaster - best protection able to:
- Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers,
dialers, and other potentially unwanted software.
- Block spyware/tracking cookies in Internet Explorer and Mozilla/Firefox.
- Restrict the actions of potentially unwanted sites in Internet Explorer.• Internet Explorer 6, FireFox, Netscape 8
- Updated browsers have pop-up blockers included and help aid in the fight
against adware, spyware and other potentially dangerous sites.
Download the utilities and browsers from our Software Download page.
Firewalls & Routers
Firewalls provide an extra shield of protection; a hardware or software system designed to secure a computer network or individual PC from unauthorized access or threatening action from an external source, such as the Internet. All patched Windows XP systems have a built-in firewall offering this protection. You can enable it via Program Files--Accessories--System Tools--Security Center.
A router is beneficial when hooking up multiple computers to a single internet connection (like a broadband cablemodem) and provides a firewall within the hardware device (protecting the attached computers from potential internet hackers).
Turning off Auto-Download
This is not a trivial security measure. With auto-download enabled every file someone attempts to send you is accepted automatically, whether it contains a virus or not. Turning this feature off will allow you to check what file is being sent and who is sending it. Look through the other preferences and disable those features that could "allow anyone" to send you files/messages or share your system.
For AIM (AOL Instant Messenger)
Once you are logged in click on My AIM.
Click on Edit Options and then Edit Preferences.
Click on File Transfer on the left column.
Under Receive File Permission make sure the circle next to Display the Approve Dialog for files from all users is darkened and then click Ok.
For Yahoo Instant Messenger
Once you are logged in click on Messenger.Click on Preferences.
Click on File Transfer on the left column.
Make sure in the first two boxes that ‘Ask me’ is highlighted then click Ok.