How to Improve Security

Today we’re talking about security.

In our line of work, we see too many people leaving themselves wide open for these kinds of things:


Oh, look! Someone has logged-in to their email from a public computer, and left it. Wow. If we were evil, I wonder what we could do with this?

• We could look at their private email. How embarrassing could that end up being?
• Or we could find personal information in there and use it for identity theft. Or, even better, we could send email to anyone we want and these emails could say anything.
• Maybe add some offensive pictures?
• How about we send something to their boss, boy or girlfriend, or maybe the dean?

Pretty scary.
But wait, what’s this?


Someone left themselves logged-in to a public lab computer! If we were evil, we could easily do things like:

• Mess with their email like we could above
  
• See where they’ve been on the internet
• Get access to some sites they’ve logged into (maybe even their bank account? Maybe we could buy some things for ourselves through their Amazon.com account or something?)
• Delete their files (even files on their network drive, maybe?)

Terrifying, right?
We could probably come up with more bad ideas if we tried.

Fortunately, we’re not evil, and whenever we see this kind of thing happen, we try to log off or log out so these bad ideas don’t become realities. But we can’t keep an eye on every computer all the time, especially if this happens outside of our campus. And these kinds of things could and do happen.

What can you do?
Well, obviously, you could make sure you never leave a computer you’ve logged into without logging off or locking it. Locking the computer is a good idea if you are only leaving it for a few minutes, and it’s easy. On Windows computers, just push the Windows Key (by the spacebar) and L at the same time. To unlock it, just enter your name and password like you did when you logged on, and everything will be just like you left it.

Also, make sure you always log out of sites like web email and online retailers. Don’t just close the window. Some sites leave you logged in for the day or until you log off or the computer is restarted.

Better yet, Firefox and Internet Explorer both have features that let you cover your tracks when you’re done. In Firefox (the safest browser out there right now, by the way) go to Tools > Clear Private Data. It will then give you a list of things you want to clear. If on a public computer, check them all.

In Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Internet Options. Then in the new window that appears, click Delete… listed under Browsing history. It will then give you a list of things to clear. If on a public computer, check them all.

And finally, be careful about the sites you go to on public computers. School computer lab machines are usually fairly safe, but outright public computers like in libraries can be a hazard.

And speaking of public access:
Be careful with wireless connections. Avoid logging on to your email or bank account from public wireless internet. Because its wireless, your signal can be intercepted by evil-doers and they can get your info.

Be sure to let common sense guide you. And when it comes to public access computing, a small dose of suspicion can help keep you safe.

Well that’s it for this week! Thanks for reading Knowing-Stuff!

by Aaron W. Herd – August 18, 2008