|
Computer viruses are very bad. They waste your time. They waste our
time. Sometimes they waste more than time! Here is how we at Cuesta
College work together to avoid them. These methods aren’t perfect,
but they have stopped the vast majority of viruses launched on the
Internet:
-
The campus network
has a firewall that blocks rogue connections to our campus LAN.
-
All
email received from offsite is scanned for hidden or attached viruses
by at least two separate virus scanners.
-
All computers on
campus have anti-virus software installed and maintained with current
virus definitions by Network staff.
This is what you can do:
-
If you see a
notification on your computer that your virus definitions are out of
date, report it to Computer Services immediately. This is especially
important if you use a Cuesta College laptop and have connected to or
dialed in to another network while offsite.
-
Be careful reading
or replying to emails from strangers. While computer viruses are
generally caught at the server, hoaxes or “reader viruses” are
impossible to detect. Email hoaxes waste a great deal of time and
resources. Please don’t help propagate them.
This is what you shouldn’t do:
-
Do not install
programs on your computer without permission from Computer Services.
In particular, do not install or give permission to a website to
install “free” software or utilities you may find on the web. These
often contain spyware or adware which can lead to a flood of popup
advertisements in your browser.
-
Do not reply to or follow links
contained in your email offering system patches, upgrades, virus
disinfections, etc. Cuesta College Computer Services is the sole
administrator of such upgrades for all campus machines. We send
notifications of upgrades via email, but we never perform
upgrades via email. "Upgrading" your computer by following
instructions in an email may often lead to a virus infection.
-
Do not, under any
circumstance, attach a non-Cuesta computer to the Campus network. This
creates a serious threat of virus infestation on the Cuesta network.
If you have a question about how to facilitate a guest speaker or some
other use of a “foreign” computer on the Cuesta College network,
please contact Computer Services in advance.
Resources:
As always, if you have further questions about the use of your computer
or how to protect your system against virus attack, please contact
Computer Services at ext. 3248.
|
