Security Best Practices

When you think about computer security, viruses and hackers immediately come to mind. However the weakest link in any security system is the human element. How we handle sensitive information, such as our own login credentials, has a big impact on the security of our computer systems and our campus network.

Here are some quick tips and a few documents with more detailed information:

• Never send your password via email. Email is by nature insecure and should not be trusted with personal information. Information Services will never ask for your password via email.
• Do not write your passwords down. If you must keep a record of your passwords, only write down a password hint to help you remember your password.
• Be aware of any printed documents you may work with that contain sensitive information such as social security numbers. If possible, remove such information from printed documents and shred any unnecessary records with personal information. Also, see the documents below.
• Never leave a mobile device, such as a laptop, tablet, or smartphone unattended in a public place. This includes our campus libraries and labs.
• Do not use your OWU password for non-OWU websites or services. This puts up firewalls between services, so that, should a hacker get your access to one, they don't also get acess to anything else--or, if there's a data breach anywhere, the impact of that is minimized.
• Employees are required to change their password every 12 months. Faculty and staff will receive reminders to change their password, and won't be able to sign in after they expire.

Documents

(Some of these documents are stored in BishopWorks or the Faculty and Staff Shared Drive, both require login.)

• Information Security Frequently Asked Questions

• Data Classification Guidelines - Defines the categorization of data at OWU.

• Data Handling Guidelines - Provides data security guidance in compliance with the OWU Computer Use Policy.  Data types are defined in the Data Classification Guidelines document. 

• Port Availability Recommendations - Lists commonly used communication ports, protocols, and services and recommendations for inbound traffic.

• Server Administration Guidelines - Defines the OWU standards for data security, consistency and availability of servers.

For additional information, see our Self Help site's Security topic.