Best Practices for Personal Computer Security

Headlines are rife with stories about high-profile data theft -- stolen government laptops, hacked credit card databases, misplaced disks with top secret data, identity theft and more.

Many of us at UMF regularly work with confidential information (students’ and others’ social security numbers, date of birth, home address, etc.,) so each of us needs to take extra steps to ensure its security.

Four Simple Steps to Better Security

These four simple steps are essential to protecting your computer and the private information it contains:

1. Lock your office door when you’re away for all but the briefest trips. How long is too long to leave it unlocked? How long would you feel comfortable walking away and leaving your wallet and checkbook unattended on your desk?

2. If you have laptop/PDA that leaves your office, secure its location at all times. Don’t leave it visible in your car, even if the doors are locked.

3. Do not allow anyone to use your campus User ID or passwords – not even your most trusted student worker.

4. Never leave a written copy of any Username or Password in a handy-but-insecure location, such as Post-It’ed on your monitor or “hidden” under your keyboard. These locations are well-known and quite handy for data thieves as well.

Protecting Others' Info

Follow these data security practices to ensure that no one but you can access the private information on your computer.

At Work and At Home

These computer security settings and recommendations will further protect your computer at work and at home.

Skip to the Good Stuff

If you know what to do and just need to know how, go right to our security how-to page.

Need More Help?

Not sure what some of these security terms means? Consult our Geek Speak Glossary.
If you have further questions, contact the Computer Center Help Desk (x-7300) for assistance.