October is Cyber Security Month

Week 1: Keep your computer and data secure

Keep your computer secure

• Use strong passwords and PINs.
• *Use a firewall.
• *Purchase anti-virus and anti-spyware software and keep them up-to-date.
• *Keep your operating system software updated.
• Security cables – lock up your computer (especially laptops). Security cable locks are an inexpensive way to lock up your computer.  We recommend purchasing a combination cable lock instead of one that requires a key. Keys are easy to lose

*CIT maintains a firewall and security software on all Calvin-owned computers.

Keep your data secure

Faculty and staff using Calvin-owned computers

• Work-related files should be stored on Calvin's Novell network. CIT backs up the Novell file servers on a regular basis.
• Off-campus and need your Novell files? If you travel with a Calvin laptop. You can connect to Novell from off campus after making a VPN connection.

Students or home computers

• Backup your files
  Because technology can at times prove unreliable, it is important to save your files in more than one location. You should save your files in at least two of the following locations:

• your personal computer's hard drive
• your student Novell (NetStorage) account
• CD-R/CD-RW
  Burning files to a CD is a good alternative to storing large files. All of our public lab computers have CD burning capabilities. While CD-RW and CD-R CDs have the same capacity, you can only delete files from a CD-RW disc to recover space. Once files have been written to a CD-R disc you cannot remove them.
• LoJack for Laptops can be used to aid in recovering your laptop in the event it is stolen. LoJack for Laptops is available at http://www.absolute.com/products/lojack or from the Campus Store.
• An online backup solution such as Mozy, Carbonite, or iDrive can be used to automatically backup your computer and help you recover your files if your computer is lost, stolen, or your hard drive fails.
• an external hard drive
  NOTE: USB external Flash drives (a.k.a. thumb drives, me mory keys, pen drives) are a fast and easy way of storing your files but they also can be easily lost or damaged. Be sure your documents are backed up in another location. USB drives They come in various sizes and can be pur chased at the Campus store.

IMPORTANT: Please note that Calvin no longer supports the use of floppy disks on campus. The HelpDesk no longer has the capabilities to recover lost files from floppy disks.