Archive for the ‘Best Practices’ Category
Best Practices: Home Router Security
The audio and slides from Bob Fletcher’s presentation at the November 2009 DCC meeting on securing your home wireless router are now available here.
For more information, visit the Home Router Security web page, which features an outline plus related links.
“Everything but Lysol …” Presentation
If you were unable to attend the September DCC meeting and missed David Sherry’s presentation on identifying, sanitizing and preventing infected computers (or you were there and want more materials), an audio copy plus slides is now available from the ISG web site at “Best Practices: Cleaning an Infected Computer”. The page also includes a brief outline of the presentation with links to “cleaning supplies”, plus a checklist version to use in the field.
“Secure Wireless When Traveling” Documents
Now available from the ISG web site: Step-by-step instructions for the general user to securely configure a laptop before connecting it “in the wild”.
Four versions of the documents — XP, Vista, Tiger and Leopard — complete with screen shots, can be downloaded as PDFs from the new Secure Wireless When Traveling web page, which also includes some useful related resources.
Thanks to Suzie Nacar and Sherie Josephson for their assistance in preparing these documents.
Easier Help Desk Ticket Option
Need assistance from the Help Desk? Are you a Mac user, away from your work computer, or just don’t have a Remedy Account?
Look for a link to submit a Help Request on the Help Desk page.
Just answer a few quick questions, and your ticket will be submitted. Note that this is not the same as RemedyWeb – it’s even more convenient and lightweight. Click the image at right for a closer view.
Multi-User PC Deployment
A posting on the Windows Higher Ed listserve led me to this interesting page on the various ways of deploying multi-user PC’s, e.g. for student clusters.
http://blogs.technet.com/deploymentguys/archive/2008/02/18/configuring-default-user-and-computer-settings-for-windows-image-deployment.aspx
OS X 10.5.7 Update
Apple has released the new update 10.5.7. for both Intel and PowerPC macs. If you have not installed this update because you have not run the software update app or because you want more information on what the update fixes/upgrades, then read this very well written article by a MacWorld contributor (the article is down below).
Although you can use the software update app to get the new update, it is best practice to download the combo update (this file is very large). By installing the combo instead of the delta (shorten version), you will ensure that your computer has all of the updates properly installed without major issues. The ‘DELTA’ update (the update one gets through using the Software Update app) will only allow to upgrade your OS from 10.5.6 to 10.5.7. By obtaining the ‘Combo’ update from their download page, you can upgrade your computer fromany rendition of 10.5. & ensure you haven’t missed any important updates along the way. To get the combo update, click here.
Handling Copyright Complaints in Your Department
Pat Falcon, part of the Information Security Group at CIS, offers these tips on dealing with copyright complaints that may involve employees:
Not all copyright complaints that Brown receives are for students. Occasionally a complaint is traced to a computer being used in a department, and the person responsible could be a staff member, post doc, grad student or anyone else with access to that computer. Since by law (Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, or DMCA), Brown must address copyright complaints promptly [the DMCA states that "Upon receiving proper notification of claimed infringement, the provider must expeditiously take down or block access to the material."] your department may be asked to assist in this necessary “take down” process.*
If this hasn’t affected you and your department yet, read on for recommendations that could prepare you for the eventuality. If you’ve already dealt with this at some point, consider this post a good review. And it could also serve as a motivator for you to remind members of your department about the hazards of illegal file-sharing (risk of compromise as well as sanctions) so that neither they nor you have to deal with complaints in the first place.
