Hello and welcome to the Information Security Awareness Program created by Information Technology Services at Cincinnati State.
This program’s primary focus is to inform the college community regarding information security topics,
so you can do your part to keep our data and systems safe.
This video, Staying Safe & Secure Online, is part of a collection of videos that make up the Information Security Awareness Program.
You can find the entire Information Security Program online at www.cincinnatistate.edu/InformationSecurity
This video will cover the following six topics:
1) What is a virus?
2) Keep a clean machine
3) Anti-virus software
4) Secure browsing
5) Firewalls
6) Additional security measures
A virus, more generally known as malware, is software that is designed to harm a computer & network and can copy itself to other
computers & networks. You come in contact with malware through the course of accessing the Internet from your computer.
Malware can be installed on your computer without your approval or knowledge through deceptive links or from downloading
something that sparks your interest such as attachments of funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video files.
Once malware has been installed on your computer, cyber criminals try to access your personal information by tracking your
keyboard keystrokes or logging your computer’s activity. They can control your computer to send spam e-mail, automatically
re-directed to view unwanted websites, or perform other actions without your knowledge. The result can simply be a brief
annoyance, or something more devastating like identity theft. Once a virus is on your computer, its type or the method it used to get
there is not as important as removing it and preventing further infection.
If you suspect you have a computer virus, turn off your computer and call the ITS Helpdesk at (513) 569-1234.
The best defense against viruses, malware, and other online threats
is to ensure your computer stays current with the latest security software/updates.
To verify the Windows Updates on your computer are current, click the Start button, click All Programs, click Windows Update.
College owned computers are configured to automatically install updates daily. Because this is critically important to the stability and
safety of our systems and data, this setting cannot be changed by users.
To view Windows Update settings, click Change settings from the left menu.
Along with computers, other devices, such as smart phones and gaming systems, should also be protected from viruses and malware.
Also, be sure to scan externally connected hardware such as USB devices and external hard drives.
To combat attacks on your computer, be sure to have reputable anti-virus and anti-spyware software installed and up-to-date.
The College’s anti-virus software is Microsoft’s Forefront. Because Forefront is critically important to the stability and safety of
our systems and data, some settings cannot be changed by users.
To view Forefront, click the Start button,click All Programs, click Microsoft Forefront, and then click Forefront Client Security.
The internet provides a vast knowledge of information but it doesn’t come without risks. Before you enter sensitive data in a web form
or on a webpage, look for signs that show the site is secure.
This section offers a few suggestions to help you determine if a website is safe and secure.
First, let’s look at the parts that make up a web address or URL (Uniform Resource Locator).
Protocol, also known as schema, is the first part of the URL. The most common protocols are
http (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and https (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure). Others include ftp, smtp, and pop3.
The next part of the URL is the sub-domain. In this example the sub-domain is www (World Wide Web),
which is often the default sub-domain used on many websites.
Because of this, the sub-domain is often not necessary. If you browse to google.com or www.google.com you arrive at the same site.
In its simplest form, the sub-domain is a folder on the web server.
The domain name is an easily recognizable phrase that corresponds to a globally unique number called an IP address.
For example, www.google.com has a unique IP address of 74.125.225.178.
If you copy and paste this IP address (74.125.225.178) into a browser, you will open Google’s website.
The top-level domain is the name server that your browser will use to resolve the location of the requested site.
Most common top-level domains are .com, .org, .edu, and .gov.
The file path and name is the specific file or resource being requested.
On a secure site, the protocol should be https (instead of http). Https presents a secure connection
and browsers will often display a padlock near the URL to show the site is secure.
You can click this padlock to determine if the site has a verified security certificate.
Also, inspect the Domain Name (cincinnatistate) and Top-Level Domain (edu) to ensure you are on the correct site.
The following displays how the four top browsers, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, show you are on a secure website.
With Internet Explorer, the padlock is to the right of the URL. Click the padlock to view the security certificate.
The protocol (https), the domain name and top-level domain (cincinnatistate.edu)
are in bold for quick reference that you are on the correct site.
Firefox does not display a padlock. Instead, it “highlights” the website to the left of the URL.
Click the highlighted website to view the security certificate.
The protocol (https), the domain name and top-level domain (cincinnatistate.edu)
are in bold for quick reference that you are on the correct site.
With Chrome, the padlock is to the left of the URL and the color of the protocol (https) is green.
Click the padlock to view the security certificate.
The domain name and top-level domain (cincinnatistate.edu) are in bold for quick reference that you are on the correct site.
With Safari, the padlock is to the right of the URL. Click the padlock to view the security certificate.
Safari does not bold the protocol (https), the domain name, or the top-level domain (cincinnatistate.edu).
A firewall (hardware or software) can help protect your computer from would-be hackers trying to delete information, crash your
computer, or steal your passwords and credit card information. It also helps to protect your computer from viruses and/or worms that try
to reach your computer over the Internet. This image shows a simplistic view of a firewall.
The green arrow represents safe communication from the Internet and is passed through the firewall to your computer.
The red arrows represent unsafe communication, like viruses, and are blocked to protect your computer.
The campus network has firewall protection at the entry point to the network.
Because of this, Windows Firewall is turned off on all campus computers.
Firewalls are a strong defense against dangerous attacks via the Internet.
The following are a few additional security measures that will help keep you safe and secure online.
Combine capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols to create a more complex and secure password.
For more information on passwords, see the Information Security Awareness Program document Username & Password Security.
Use separate passwords for each system. If you do this and a cyber-criminal gains access to one of your systems,
they won’t gain access to all of them.
Keep your passwords in a safe and secure place away from your computer.
When available, set the privacy and security settings on websites to your comfort level for information sharing.
Always remember, it is a best practice to limit the information you share online.
Ensure that all Wi-Fi (home and cell hot- spots) are password protected.
Don't click links or buttons in a pop-up window that seem suspicious.
If you have questions regarding this or any other information security topic, call the ITS Helpdesk @ 513-569-1234.