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The Spectator
ITS Lab Consultants Present Posters on Cyber Security
by Ben Trachtman '12Science & Technology Editor
November 06, 2009
To mark the end of National Cyber Security Awareness Month (October), the Information Commons held a poster session stressing electronic security on October 30th. The posters were created by the Information Technology Services (ITS) Lab Consultants and focused on various aspects of cyber security. They had been on display around the library over the course of the month, but had been collected on the first floor for viewing at the end of the month. Students were encouraged to attend, and cider and donuts were provided. Students could also enter a drawing for a gift basket provided by the Information Commons.
In conjunction with the event, ITS training coordinator Maureen Scoones sent out an email detailing proper security techniques. These include backing up important files to protect them against loss, not giving out personal passwords, keeping web browsers, operating systems and anti-virus software up to date and staying aware of online "phishing" schemes.
Any hard drive could fail at any time, and any file could become corrupted. Losing a big paper at the last minute is always a nightmare scenario for the college student, which is why backing up files is so important. By backing up files, they can still be recovered even if something happens to the original. One of the most common systems for backing up files is to store them on an external medium, such as CD-Rs or external hard drives. There are also numerous online back up systems that allow students to keep a copy of their files on a different server and also make updating or recovering these files much easier than backing up on disks.
Many of the posters presented in the poster session address the topic of passwords: how to create a safe password and how to keep it safe. First and foremost, a password should be original and hard to guess. A good password also includes numbers and capital letters to make it even harder to figure out. A safe user has a different password for each program or site that requires one; that way, if someone guesses one password, only one program is compromised. And of course, no one should ever give out passwords to anyone else.
When browsing the Internet, a computer is constantly bombarded by potential intrusions. It is up to the web browser, operating system, and anti-virus software to protect the computer from these, but they can only do so if they are up to date. Having current protection on the computer allows these programs to detect and block the newest viruses and spyware that could slip through undetected against out of date protection.
Phishing is when someone contacts a user masquerading as a reputable source and asks for personal information from the user. Usually phishers are disguised as banks or other businesses, like eBay. A wise user is always suspicious of these kinds of emails and verifies the identity of the business on the other end before giving out passwords, account information, credit card information or any other personal details.
Cyber security is not difficult to achieve, but the first step is becoming aware of the process to get there. While the Internet can be a dangerous place, it can also be a source of back-up locations, free anti-virus software, password generators and many other tools that can help enhance cyber security. The key is to use common sense, and in today's computer and Internet literate age, it should not be hard difficult.