Computer Network Security For Schools |
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Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses, and Spain. What do all these have in common? School network administrators deal with these computer problems and numerous other computer attacks on a daily basis. When a computer is infected by a backdoor Trojan Horse, a hacker has access to your computer from somewhere else on the Internet. The person who is sitting at the computer will, notice the computer running more slowly. They-may begin to get error messages or encounter files missing from folders. Some Trojan Horses send out e-mail messages with attached files that are infected. There are numerous software and hardware options to protect your network. These include Firewalls, Antivirus Software, SPAM Filtering Software, Security Updates and Network Address Translation Devices. Network Routers and Switches can be configured to filter out unwanted communications. Operating system and computer application security updates can be installed on File Servers and end user computers. Basic Network Safety Rules Here are some basic rules that help lessen the vulnerability of having school computers infected or networks compromised: • Adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy (Computer Use Agreement) established by your School District. Most Acceptable Use Policies contain a statement addressing educational use of district-owned computers. Ensure that anyone using a school computer understands the agreement and has signed the form. • Create secure passwords that include keyboard characters such as "&" numbers and letters. Bad choices for passwords include a family member's name or home street address. • Never share your password. Your password is very important and must be treated as if it were the PIN to your ATM card. • Remember to log off. If you are logged onto a computer or network using your user ID and password, log off prior to walking away. If you don't, the next user on that computer can access your files. • Don't use your e-mail address as your point of contact for nonschool vendors or stores. You will begin receiving a lot of e-mail from marketers and most times you won 't be able to get off their mailing lists. • Do not open attachments to e-mails that you were not expecting. If the subject of an e-mail appears questionable (i.e.; test, hi, here it is), don't open the message. If the return address is familiar to you, create a new message to that person and ask them if they sent you the questionable note. Most times, viruses are contained in attachments from people you know. • Make sure your virus software is up-to-date. Know how to check the dates of your virus definition files and update them. When in doubt, ask. Your school's instructional technology staff want and need to find out about possible security leaks prior to discovering the results through a compromised network. | ||||||
| Last Updated ( Monday, 09 March 2009 ) | ||||||
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