Students - Staying Safe Online

Many students use laptops to do their research and course work on. If you are one of these students you'll probably agree that during your research you are likely to connect to the web from a variety of different locations from your College or University campus to internet cafes, friend's houses, and the library. As well as this, you may well use shared computers a lot, saving your data to a pen drive or other portable media ready to put it onto your own computer at a later date. Because of this, it is very important that you make sure your laptop is safe from a range of different risks.

Viruses

Viruses are probably the first threat that springs to mind when we think about computer safety. To protect your computer from viruses you can do the following things:

Install good quality anti-virus software. There are many different options available, some are free, and others cost, but whichever you choose, make sure you keep it up to date and that it will do everything you need it to.
Scan your computer with your anti-virus software daily, and if you find yourself with a virus do something about it immediately.
Set it to scan pen drives and other media automatically whenever you attach them to your computer, this way you will catch any viruses that may have come from other machines before they infect yours.
Never open attachments in e-mails whether you recognise them or not, without scanning them first. Anyone can get a virus, and pass it on without even realising it.

Firewalls & Security

Firewalls and security are a big priority when you're using your laptop on different systems as you can never be 100% sure that the network you're linking to is completely safe. Make sure you have good firewalls installed, and that you keep them switched on all the time. Firewalls are your primary method of safety to stop your computer from being hacked into and ensuring that your information is not stolen or shared.

Physical safety

If you carry your laptop with you a lot, you may want to think about its physical safety too. When it's with you, but not in use, keep it locked away or attach it to a desk with a safety cable. Laptops are highly sought after by thieves so don't leave yours unattended.

Passwords and Usernames

Keeping your passwords secure is very important, there are a number of ways to do this:

Create passwords that are not easily cracked - don't use your name, birthday, place you live or school you went to. Try to throw in some random numbers and non-alpha numeric characters too.
Never store your username or password on a shared computer.
Always remember to log out of your e-mail and any other site you have to sign into if you are using a shared computer.
Change your passwords regularly.
Don't use the same password and/or username for all your accounts. Many people do this to make it easy for themselves, but unfortunately this does make it far easier for hackers to guess as well.
If you think something may have been hacked, go in and change all your passwords immediately.

Updates

Make sure you update your computer regularly. Most operating systems such as Windows will create patches (small fixes) regularly for problems that people have found. Updating your operating system will mean it's as secure as possible. Update security software such as firewalls and anti-virus regularly too.