{"id":123403,"date":"2019-09-19T16:38:19","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T20:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/tech\/?page_id=123403"},"modified":"2023-04-11T13:35:53","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T17:35:53","slug":"ncsam-2018","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/tech\/support\/information-security\/cam\/archives\/ncsam-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"NCSAM 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Information Security Awareness Month: October 2018<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n

Week 4: Securing Your Devices<\/strong><\/h2>\n


\nIt is important these days to make sure that our devices are secure. Boston University has the\u00a0<\/span>Minimum Security Standards<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>policy that defines the security requirements for devices that have University data on them. For personal devices that aren\u2019t used for University business, here are some tips to help protect them and your personal information.<\/p>\n

Keep your computer and applications updated.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Patches or updates help resolve security flaws that you might have on your system, protecting you from malicious attempts to compromise your system.\u00a0 Patches should be applied on a fairly regular basis at a time that\u2019s convenient for you.<\/p>\n

Install antivirus software.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>You should install antivirus software on your personal devices.\u00a0 Antivirus isn\u2019t just for laptops!\u00a0 It should be installed on your desktop computers, tablets, and phones! Boston University provides McAfee for free\u00a0<\/span>here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Enable Encryption on your device.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Your devices should be encrypted using the built in encryption feature included in your phone or computer\u2019s operating system. For personal computers, On Mac there is\u00a0<\/span>FileVault<\/i><\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and Windows there is\u00a0<\/span>Bitlocker<\/i><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

Require a password when logging into your devices.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>It is always good to have a password required to login to your devices. If your device gets stolen and there isn\u2019t a login password, then the thief would have access to all of your data immediately.<\/p>\n

Use a secure connection (often called a \u201cVPN\u201d) to connect to the network.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Using a secure connection provides an encrypted tunnel for information to travel from your computer and throughout the internet. This is important when you are working remotely or using public WiFi hotspots where data can potentially be read by malicious individuals if it isn\u2019t encrypted.<\/p>\n

Week 3: Know Your Data<\/h3>
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At Boston University, our data can be classified into 4 groups:<\/p>\n

Public Data: <\/strong>Data that is disclosed to anyone regardless of affiliation.\u00a0 Examples – The published BU Directory, public websites<\/p>\n

Internal Data: <\/strong>information that is potentially sensitive and is not intended to be shared with the public.\u00a0 Examples – procedural documentation, memos, meeting minutes<\/p>\n

Confidential Data: <\/strong>Information that, if made available to unauthorized parties, may adversely affect individuals or the business of Boston University. This classification also includes data that the University is required to keep confidential, either by law (e.g., FERPA) or under a confidentiality agreement with a third party.\u00a0 Examples \u2013 FERPA data, BUID, salary information<\/p>\n

Restricted Use Data: <\/strong>Any information that BU has a contractual, legal, or regulatory obligation to safeguard in the most stringent manner. Examples \u2013 Passwords, Social Security numbers, Driver\u2019s License numbers, Credit Card numbers, Financial Account Information, and HIPAA data<\/p>\n

Details on how protect our data are spelling out in our Data Protection Standards.<\/p>\n