Tips for Safe Computing

The University provides network connections to the Internet, which provides access to highly informative and useful sites. To help protect yourself from Identity Theft and other computer related crimes you should follow these tips for safe computing.

Update operating system and antivirus software

Worms and viruses try to exploit security vulnerabilities in software. Microsoft issues critical updates to fix these flaws. All Microsoft Windows and Office patches, as well as for other applications, should be downloaded and installed as soon as they are made available. This also applies to other operating systems including MacOS and linux distributions.

Yeshiva University policy requires that all computers connected to the University network must run an antivirus program and keep the virus definitions updated. The University provides licenses for Symantec Anti-Virus, which is available for Windows XP, Vista and MacOS, and may be downloaded free of charge to any computer on the University network.
 

Ignore email attachments, spam and phishing attempts

Always be cautious when opening email attachments. Never open email attachments sent by non-YU email address, except when you are specifically expecting an attachment.

ITS makes every effort to filter spam (unsolicited commercial email), but we will never catch all of the spam without filtering some legitimate email as well. The best way to handle spam is to ignore and delete it. Do not ever respond to it or reply to it. Some spam emails have a link near the end of the message to unsubscribe. Do not click on the link. If you reply, you are only verifying that your email address is valid, and you will likely receive more spam.

Phishing is a technique for gathering personal or login information via email. An email may appear to originate from a bank, credit card, or other web site, such as EBay or Amazon. Phishing emails may even claim to be from Yeshiva University.

Never supply any personal information such as your passwords in response to email. No reputable organization will ask for your password via email.



For more information, please email infosec@yu.edu.