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Data Protection

Keep your system and data secure by following good security practices not only helps to protect your data, but it can also help others in the University community benefit from decreased risk.

Secure Your Office

  • When leaving, lock the door and keep unauthorized users away from systems.
  • Keep all media containing confidential information in a secure place.
  • Keep any paper records of passwords in a secure place.

Secure Your Computer

  • Always lock your computer when you step away. Use a privacy screen if your computer is located in a high traffic or insecure areas.
  • Close applications and log out when you're away from your computer for any length of time.
  • Install and maintain anti-virus and anti-malware software and update the definitions regularly. Scan all removable media for viruses before using them.
  • Keep systems updated with all of the current security patches. Where possible, turn on automatic updates to apply operating system security updates. Check regularly for updates to third party applications such as Adobe, Flash, Java, etc., or consider using an automated patching solution. Automatic updates offered by Windows and Macs do not always patch these applications.

Secure Your Mobile Devices

  • Use a passcode/password to lock your device. Always lock the device when you are not using it.
  • When changing your password, make sure you change it everywhere you may have your credentials stored.

Secure Your Data

  • Backup systems thoroughly and often, and store your backups in a separate secure location.
  • Do not save sensitive information to portable drives. Be sure to encrypt sensitive data wherever it is stored.
  • Ensure Level 1 data is protected, see SAM 07.A.08 Data Classification & Protection