• Change your passwords regularly.
  
  
• Use a different password for each account.
  
  
• Your passwords should not include any names (yours, your friends', family, pets; familiar numbers associated with you (addresses, phone numbers, license plates, birthdays), any form of your username, or ordinary "dictionary" words!
  
  
• Examples of poor passwords are: Mom, Fluffy, Desk, Password, 12345, Qwerty
  
  
• Password should include both letters and numbers as well as symbols if possible.
  
  
• Choose a password that is as long as possible,
  but one that you can still remember
  
  
• Example of a good password is: !W@d&$n!
  (It was a dark and stormy night!)
  
  
• Never give out your password to anyone, for any reason. Your password is yours, and you will be accountable for everything that happens with it.

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Virus Protection

Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses:
A computer virus attaches itself to a program or file enabling it to spread from one computer to another when opened, leaving infections as it travels. A worm is similar but has the capability to travel without any human action. A worm takes advantage of a file or information transport features on your system to allows it to spread unaided. The Trojan horse disguises itself as useful software but will actually do damage once run on your computer.

• Adelphi provides all resident students with a copy of the Symantec Antivirus Client, available through your RA, RHD or at the HelpDesk in Swirbul Library.
  
  
• If you are not a resident student and need to purchase antivirus software for your personal computer, we strongly recommend that you purchase Norton AntiVirus from Symantec both for your personal data protection and to keep your computer running at its best.

Find antivirus software information at our Computer Support: Software Downloads page:

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Phishing—"fishing" for your personal information. Emails that are made to appear as though they are from a recognized source and are designed to trick you into submitting your vital information (e.g. bank account, social security, credit card numbers, and passwords to accounts).

Figuring out what a scam looks like and knowing what to do when you see one will be your best protection against criminals attempting to steal your information.

Adelphi’s Office of Information Technology (Adelphi IT) works diligently to keep our network free of viruses, spam and phishing scams. They deter approximately 150,000 email threats per day (about 80%-90% of the daily messages that come through our servers).

PLEASE NOTE: Adelphi’s IT HelpDesk representatives and network administrators will NEVER contact you by email or phone, asking you to reply with your username, password or other sensitive information. If you are in any way suspicious of an email you receive, please contact the IT HelpDesk at ext. 3340 about the message or forward it to abuse@adelphi.edu.

Best Practices to avoid becoming a victim:

• Be suspicious of any email with urgent requests to reset your username/password. Never send your username/password or other confidential data in an email to anyone, not even to us! When in doubt, call us directly and do not respond to the suspicious email.
  
  
• Know that companies and banks will not email you asking you to verify your personal information (e.g., SSN, credit card, etc.). Be smart, and contact the company directly (i.e., using the phone number on the back of your bank card or credit card) before giving out any information.
  
  
• Adelphi policy does not allow the sharing of passwords with anyone, for any reason. Convenience should not override policy. Student workers and graduate assistants must get accounts of their own.
  
  
• Adelphi IT currently supports Firefox v 3 and Internet Explorer v 7 browsers. Ensure that your browser is up to date and that you regularly apply security patches. We also recommend using Symantec Antivirus protection.
  
  
• If you receive a link in an email or an instant message, only use it to get to a web page if you trust the person who sent it to you and if you know the message is authentic.
  
  
• Only purchase merchandise from trusted companies. Always ensure that you're using a secure website when submitting credit card or other sensitive information via your web browser. Look for "https" in the browser address bar and the security lock in the bottom right corner.
  
  
• Regularly check your bank, credit, and debit card statements to ensure that all transactions are legitimate.
  
  
• Report "phishing" or "spoofed" emails to the email service through which you received the malicious email (i.e., if you received the message on your Adelphi email account, report it to Adelphi's IT HelpDesk; if you received it on your Yahoo! account, report it to Yahoo!).
  
  
• If you accidentally responded to a phishing message while on the Adelphi network, please inform Adelphi's IT HelpDesk as soon as possible.
  

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Spyware

Spyware is a software that gets installed on your computer to collect personal information, such as your Web browsing behavior, confidential data, or personal information. This information is subsequently used to build a profile of the computer's user so he or she can be targeted more effectively with spam and phishing messages.

Much of the spyware will promote itself as browser toolbars or add-ons, coupon printers, Internet accelerators, download managers, etc. Installing such software will slow down your computer instead of speeding it up, disclose personal information, and may result into more spam or phishing messages being sent to your email address. A more obvious sign of spyware, aka adware, are pop-ups that occur even when you don't have an Internet browser open. Browser cookie files can also be spy-ware related.

Please use restraint when installing additional software on your Adelphi-owned computer—we also recommend the same protocol for your personal computer. When you do decide to install software, make sure that it is properly licensed.

To prevent trouble, follow these guidelines:

• Always apply Windows Updates when prompted via the Windows systray (bottom-right of your screen). For Macs, a Software Update window will prompt you when new updates are available for applications you have installed.
  
• Once a week, check if your antivirus is up-to-date. You can do this by right-clicking on the Symantec icon in the systray and checking the date. If your virus definitions are more than a week old, please contact the IT HelpDesk for assistance.
  
• Be Careful: AdAware and similar products can remove files you need or cause undesired results.
  
• Adelphi IT will never ask you for personal information. If you receive email asking for your username and password, do not respond, notify us, and then delete the email immediately.

If you feel that your computer has contracted spyware, please contact the IT HelpDesk.

Find anti-spyware software information at our Computer Support: Software Downloads page:

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Windows Updates

• Windows periodically releases patches to fix flaws in software applications.
  
  
• Keep your computer protected by setting your system to download automatic updates.
  
  
• Keep your Mac up to date as well.

Email Security

• Do not automatically display or run scripts.
  
  
• Do not download files unless you know what they contain.
  
  
• If possible, avoid HTML based email and click to display the HTML format only if you trust the sender.
  
  
• Viruses can forge email addresses.
  
  
• Adelphi's Office of Information Technology deters approximately 150,000 email threats per day (about 80%-90% of the daily messages that come through our servers).

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Secure Internet Communications
(for transcations and other confidential data)

• http vs. https: Look for "https" in the browser address bar and the security lock icon in the bottom right corner.
  
  
• Make sure that the website you are entering your information on protected by VeriSign.
  
  
• Identity theft Prevention
  • SSL –Secure Socket Layer
  • WEP –Wireless Encryption Protocol
  • SSH –Secure Shell

Browser Settings

• Adelphi IT currently supports Firefox v 3 and Internet Explorer v 7 browsers. Ensure that your browser is up to date and that you regularly apply security patches.
  
• "Trusted Sites" settting should be kept to a minimum
  
• "Active X" Controls are often not necessary
  

Wireless Connections

• Always use Encryption.
  
  
• Hot Spots: Do not use financial or sensitive information or send passwords across public wi-fi hot spots.
  
• Go to wireless connectivity instructions for Adelphi.