Students - Basic security for your personal computer
Security for users who connect to the University through dialup, VPN, wireless or use their computer at both home and the University.
To help keep your computer secure and avoid problems associated with computer worms and viruses you should be aware of the following actions that you need to take.
If you use your computer at the University or to access the University remotely (VPN, dialup or wireless) then failure to protect your computer may result in your access being removed.
Anti virus software
You should ensure that any computer you are using (be it at home or within the University) has anti-virus software installed. The anti-virus software must be configured to download updates automatically.
The University's licensed anti-virus software is currently supplied by Symantec and you can tell if it is installed by looking for a yellow shield in your toolbar.
Double clicking this icon will open Symantec anti-virus and show you the date of the virus definition files in use.
If you do not see this icon on your University computer, please contact your local IT support person.
The University's license allows for this software to be used by University staff and students working at home. For more information please visit http://www-p.unisa.edu.au/istsdocs/SAV/savdownld.asp.
Consult your anti-virus help facility or the vendor's web site for information regarding other brands of anti-virus software that you may have installed on your personal computer.
Operating System Patches
Faults are often found in operating system code that could make computers running that operating system vulnerable to malicious viruses and worms.
Manufacturers release patches to fix these faults and you should ensure that your computer has all the required patches installed.
Microsoft Operating system users can visit the web site http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com to check for and install missing patches.
Consult your operating system vendor's web site for information regarding patch availability for other non-Microsoft operating systems.
More information for users on securing their home computers is available from these sites:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/default.asp
http://www.cert.org/homeusers/HomeComputerSecurity