Practice Safe Computing

• Back up your important files. Your computer hard drive could crash at any time and some EPH student's does. Every. Single. Semester. But yet 15% of you report not backing up your files at all. I would call that moronic, but Yale frowns on us calling students names, so I will call it an unwise and unsafe activity. Use your P drive. Email important files to yourself. Burn them to CD. Do something.
• Keep the computer operating system up to date. This means using Windows Update on a PC and Software Update on a Mac. It also means applying the updates if your computer tells you the updates are available. You just can't carry the updates around in your computer, you have to apply them.
• Use antivirus software. Cruising the web is an unsafe activity. Viruses and worms run rampant. Vaccinate your computer with antivirus software an keep it up to date. That "keep it up to date" part means that the 90-day trial version that came with your computer 2 years ago is not enough. Fortunately Yale loves you so much it makes antivirus software freely available.
• Use spyware removal tools. Adware and spyware are little bits of software nefarious souls on the internet use to track where you are going in order to do things like give you more pop-up windows with ads. Ad-Aware and Spybot are two great programs that can help you get rid of the bad stuff. And Yale makes some software available as well. Your computer runs better without the bad stuff.
• Don't use Internet Explorer as your default web browser as it is targeted by some spyware. Try Firefox. Sometimes you will need to use Internet Explorer so do not try to uninstall it.
• Remember physical security is important too. Leaving a computer laying around unportected is almost an invitation to have it taken -- something that happens occasionally at Yale (yes, even here). Consider the S.T.O.P. Program.