Computer Security

Passwords and Password Security

Password Security is important because:

• We use passwords to access secure websites such as banking, online shopping, e-mails,
access and logon to computers
• We can also use passwords to protect files from being opened
• If people have our passwords they could steal our identity, impersonate you, access your
accounts and steal money, order items online using your details etc.

Good Password Use:

• Passwords should
o Be over 6 characters, many websites etc. need at least 8 characters
o Contain – numbers, symbols, upper and lowercase letter
o Should not be a recognisable word or name
• You should also:
o Not use the same password for ‘everything’
o Not write your passwords down
o Not tell anyone your passwords

Anti-Virus Software
Anti-virus software is software installed on a computer to detect viruses and protect you and your
computer from damage such as stealing passwords, deleting files, corrupting the computer etc.

There are many different anti-virus programs such as Norton, Symantic, AVG etc. Some are free and
some you have to pay for. These are installed and routinely ‘scan’ your computer for viruses and will
usually scan any new files eg downloaded or from USB drives etc.

It is important that you keep your anti-virus software up to date. New viruses are being released
and developed constantly and regular updates are required to keep your computer ‘safe’.

You should always be very careful when opening e-mail attachments, downloading from the
internet, surfing the internet or sharing and transferring files from one person to another eg sharing
disks, swapping memory sticks

Protecting and Backing Up Files

We typically have lots of files we wish to keep ‘safe’ and to prevent from getting lost, deleted or
damaged. For example you might have business accounts, photos, letters, coursework, music etc
that you wish to keep safe and secure.

Computers, disk drives, USB drives etc. frequently break or could be stolen/lost and so we could lose
our important files.
To prevent this we should – back-up our files. Backing up our files simply means making a copy and
storing it in another computer or disk (or in the cloud!). This could be done manually or there are
programs and hardware that will do this automatically.

It is good practice to copy important files to several different places regularly either manually or
automatically. For example you might copy important photographs to a DVD disk and keep the disk
in a separate location away from your computer. You could also backup files to an external hard disk
or to a USB disk and again keep these in a different location.

How often you backup depends on how important the file is. Many companies backup important
files several times a day, the college performs a backup once per day. Some individuals will backup
weekly, some monthly. At college you might backup your files as soon as they are created to
different places eg USB drive and Network or onedrive?

Email Safety
Emails can be very risky and people should be very careful when accessing and reading emails.
Many emails these days are spam (ie rubbish) but some can be dangerous and contain attachments
and links that can be dangerous and contain viruses etc. Some emails are called ‘phishing’ emails
and are looking for personal information such as passwords. These emails pretend to be from
legitimate sources or companies. To stay safe you should not open emails form people you don’t
know and trust. You should be very careful before downloading any attachments or clicking on any
links. Always assume an email is false and check it out.

Buying Online
It is important to buy goods online safely. If you are not careful you could have your bank or card
details compromised or not receive any goods you bought. You should:

Always make sure you are accessing a secure site eg https, green bar, padlock symbol

• Use paypal or a credit card – both give you more protection than a debit card.
• Only shop on well-known respected sites eg Amazon
• Only shop on UK websites
• Check reviews and ratings online