Your personal computer is an essential tool for completing coursework and vital to your success at Lehigh. The following nine topics offer guidelines on how to reduce your risk from viruses/malware, keep your computer physically secure, and protect it from catastrophic data loss.
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1. Update your operating system
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Both Apple and Microsoft continually publish updates to their operating systems that improve strengthen weaknesses in
the security of Windows and Mac OS. They also both have auto-update features built in, so if you are prompted to
install updates, install them. Do not postpone them as they may be very important. To manually check for updates,
follow the instructions below. You must be connected to the Internet when checking for and downloading updates.
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- Use unique passwords and usernames whenever possible.
It is never a good idea to reuse the same username and password for multiple sites. If your username/password gets compromised
on one site it makes your other sites vulnerable as well. - Use strong passwords.
Avoid using short/simple passwords (i.e., "password", "12345", etc.), they can be cracked in milliseconds (and most reputable
online services will not even allow such passwords to be set in the first place). When creating passwords avoid dictionary words.
The strongest passwords are those that use upper and lower case letters, avoid dictionary words and include numbers or special characters. - Change your password regularly.
It is good practice to periodically change your passwords especially on important sites such as those related to credit
cards and banking. - NEVER share your password.
Never share your password with anyone and especially not in an email message. Beware of email phishing messages (see here) that
attempt to trick you into providing your username/passwords.
NOTE: Lehigh University will NEVER ask you to provide your password via email or over the phone.
Following the above guidelines will go a long way toward keeping your confidential information and important data safe. To make
managing your multiple username and passwords easier you may want to consider using some type of password management
program/service such as: LastPass, RoboForm, or KeePass.
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