One Step Ahead: Privacy and Security Tips
September 5, 2006, Volume 53, No. 2	Print Issue

Another tip in a series provided by the Offices of Information Systems & Computing and Audit, Compliance & Privacy.

Welcome back to One Step Ahead, the weekly series of tips on important security and privacy issues and behaviors initiated last year by the Offices of Information Systems & Computing and Audit, Compliance & Privacy. A new set of tips begins in the next issue of Almanac.  In the meantime, here’s a brief refresher on a handful of the most important topics covered last spring:

• Beware of free software—it might contain code that monitors your web activities.
• Limit the use and storage of SSNs on computers and in documents or forms.
• Be careful of what you post online, to discussion boards, blogs, or networking sites. The postings may come back to haunt you in the future.
• Don’t click on unknown website links in email—you could end up downloading a harmful worm or virus.
• Never save passwords in your web browser—anyone using your computer could gain access to private information, or your passwords could be stolen by a worm or virus.
• Don’t download sensitive data to a laptop or unsecured desktop unless it’s absolutely necessary. And if you must, your LSP can advise you on how to secure the data, secure the computer, and delete the data securely when you’re done with it.

For additional tips, see the One Step Ahead link on the Information Security website: www.upenn.edu/computing/security/.