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PC Security

PC security covers several areas, the main ones being:

These days people use the phrase "security in depth" which is simply placing several layers of protection between accidents and malicious entities and your data. The idea is that a failure of one layer, should not be enough to cause data loss. The information below gives you some ideas about creating some of these layers.

Data Protection

  1. Keep your files on the u-drive i.e. on the file server. The file servers are backed up daily. If you have a laptop, this situation is a little different, however you should still regularly (daily) copy new files to the server.
  2. If you are fortunate to have a CD burner, create archival cd's and keep them somewhere else. If your files contain confidential information, make sure they are secure.

PC Protection

  1. Install all the latest patches using the WindowsUpdate and OfficeUpdate websites. If you have Windows XP - install ServicePack 2 (Note - do full scans for spyware and viruses before installing as they are known to cause problems installing SP2)
  2. Make sure your Antivirus software is the latest and up to date. Currently we are using Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition 9.02 with LiveUpdate 2.6
  3. Install the Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta - configure it to do daily scans.
  4. Run your computer as a normal user, not one with administrator rights. Most viruses need to install into the windows directory. Normal users don't have rights to write files in that area so by the simple action of only running the computer as a user, you greatly improve your safety. By all means create a second account with administrator rights so that you can log in as that user to install software e.g. if your normal account is "username", create an administrator account called "!username". See WindowsAccountCreation page for instructions on how to create accounts and change user permissions on a pc.
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