Having a personal computer is no longer a luxury for college students—it's become a necessity. Most students choose laptops, so they can take notes in class or study outside under the trees. And most of those laptops aren't protected nearly as well as they should be.
In addition, the student life poses some unique challenges. I feel fairly sure no stranger is going to wander into my home office, but a student is immediately saddled with one or more wildcards in the form of roommates. Those roommates, their friends, and just about anybody else, may wander in and out of your dorm room; it's far from ideal for security.
If your school PC is lost or stolen, you won't just lose your lecture notes from Parapsychology 101. You've almost certainly stored personal information as well, data that a thief could use against you. Here are a dozen tips to help you stay secure at school.
1. Lock It Down.Many laptops and
other small electronic devices include a slot designed to accept a
special cable lock. Wrap the cable around something massive, insert the
lock into the device, and turn the key or spin the combination. A
determined thief could probably wrest the device loose, but only at the
expense of seriously damaging the case. There are also locks that attach
to a common port such as the video output or parallel port.
2. Password-Protect It. Yes, it's
awfully convenient to just turn on your computer and have it boot
straight to the desktop—convenient, but not safe. You absolutely must
password-protect your user account, and disable the Guest account if
it's not already disabled. Also, dig into the Power settings in Control
Panel and set your computer to require a password when it wakes up from
the sleep state. If you have to step away from your computer, press
Windows+L to lock it.
3. Protect Your Email. Many schools
issue all students a school-specific email address, usually a standard
POP3 account. It's a snap to set your email client so it logs in
automatically, without requesting the password each time. However, if
you ever leave your computer turned on but unattended, anyone could log
in and read your email, or send scandalous messages. You'll be safer if
you set your email client to require the password every time.
4. Manage Your Passwords. Like
anyone else, students connect with many, many secure sites, each of
which demands a password. The only reasonable way to use a unique,
strong password for each site is to engage the help of a password manager
utility. Install it, check and change any weak passwords, and set it to
automatically log out after a short period of inactivity.
5. Don't Over-Share, Part 1. A
friend asks, "Hey, can I use your password to log in and look something
up?" Requests like this are all too common, and the correct response is
very simple—just say no. Don't share your login credentials with
anybody. If you want to be nice, offer to log in yourself and look up
whatever your friend was seeking.
6. Don't Over-Share, Part 2.
Configure your social media accounts so that only your friends can see
your posts, and limit the amount of personal profile information that's
publicly visible. Oh, and those pictures from the frat's keg party? Do
yourself a favor and just don't post those at all. If someone else does
so, untag yourself at the very least. You'll thank yourself years later
when you've graduated and started looking for a job.
7. Keep Malware Out. The
archetypical starving student doesn't have any cash to spare.
Downloading pirated software and tunes is one way to save money, but
doing so can expose you to malware. In fact, you can run into malicious
code even on perfectly legitimate sites, through "poisoned" advertising
links. The best free antivirus tools are better than many of their
commercial competitors, so there's no excuse for going without antivirus
protection. PCMag's Editors' Choice products for free antivirus are AVG Anti-Virus FREE 2013 and Ad-Aware Free Antivirus+ 10.5.
8. Don't Be Fooled. Got a text or
email message promising quick bucks for working at home? Or an offer to
share in a big reward, for a small initial investment? Don't believe
everything you read, especially in your Inbox. Some scammers see
students as easy marks; it's your job to prove them wrong. Watch out for
phishing messages pretending to come from your bank, or even from your
university. If you're not sure whether a message is valid, navigate to
the site yourself and check it out, or phone the relevant department;
don't click any links.
9. Beware Insecure Networks. Your
school likely doesn't have a big IT budget, and what they do have is
probably devoted to fixing outages. Security? They haven't had time to
think about it. Whether you're using the school's network, or free WiFi
in a coffeeshop, your connection could possibly be open to snooping by
other users. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) utility will both protect
your connection and let you surf anonymously. There are plenty of good free VPN clients to choose from.
10. Get It Back. It just takes an
instant of inattention to leave your laptop in a lecture hall. You may
be careful to lock your dorm room door, but if your roommate is a flake,
a thief could easily make off with your PC while you're both out.
Consider investing in a little protection, in the form of anti-theft
software. Our Editors' Choice in this category is LoJack for Laptops by Absolute Software, which can still function even if the thief formats or swaps out the hard drive. Note, too, that security mega-suite Bitdefender Total Security (2014) has an anti-theft component built in, along with just about every other security feature you can imagine.
11. Secure Your Phone. That
smartphone you carry around in your pocket is a more powerful computer
than early-generation PCs, and it's just crammed with contacts, photos,
and other personal data. You absolutely must set up a lock screen using a
PIN, swipe code, facial recognition, or whatever your particular phone
supports. Other security measures such as password management, VPN
connection, and anti-theft are just as important for your phone as for a
laptop.
12. Cut Your Losses. I learned a
handy trick from a friend of mine who just adored the club scene. Before
she headed out to party, she'd lock away her smartphone and bring a
cheap burner phone instead. If the phone took a dive while a friend was
holding her hair, it wouldn't be a great loss. For those who like to
party hearty after a week of grueling study, this tip can be a
lifesaver.
Whether you're a student or not, a good dose of common sense will
definitely help you stay secure. Keep your programs up to date, run
security software, don't click suspicious links, and don't believe
offers that are too good to be true. Before you know it, you'll be
finished with school and into the not-very-different world of work. Good
luck!
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