General Security Guidelines

There are several simple steps you can take to make your ILR-owned computer safer. While some of these guidelines are universal, some instructions are for computers owned by ILR only. If you are specifically looking for security tips for your personally-owned computer, please see Home Computer Management.

First, and most importantly, use complex passwords. Doing so will significantly help guard against unauthorized access to your computer and the data contained within it.

All ILR-owned computers are set up to automatically lock after a certain period of inactivity (usually 15 minutes); however, you can increase the security of your computer by manually locking your computer before walking away. To do so, just press Ctrl-Alt-Del on your keyboard at the same time; then, click on Lock Computer. When you return, just repeat the same keystroke (Ctrl-Alt-Del) and enter your password.

Reboot your system on a regular basis (preferably daily but no less than once per week) so that security patches will be properly applied to your system. This applies primarily to on-campus users or users who regularly connect to our servers.

As a matter of course, CIT will disable network access to on-campus systems that display signs of system compromises or that visit websites known to have been compromised. Network access will not be restored until ILRTS can clean or rebuild the system.