Online safety is an important issue not only on the Winston-Salem State campus but also all over the nation. With various programs that track Web site visitation and the increasing amount of personal informationavailable through the Internet, safety has become a greater priority.
Cuthrell Johnson, director of the Academic Resource Center, says to be careful about posting personal information online, whether it is through e-mail or on MySpace.
“Students should protect their passwords like they would their Social Security numbers,” Johnson said in a telephone interview. He related a cautionary tale:
“A few years ago, a student came to see me, saying something was wrong with her WSSU account. She had not been using it, so itwas clear someone had entered her emailaccount. It turns out that she gave herpassword to her boyfriend, with whom she broke up a week or so later; her then-ex later logged into her personal account, read her personal files and erased a very important message.”
Johnson suggests that one should erase the history of visited Web sites to avoid being tracked. In Internet Explorer, this involves clicking on “tools” and scrolling down to “internet options.” The next step is to click the “general” tab, the “delete files” tab and then the “delete cookies” tab.
According to Microsoft.com, one of the most effective ways to ensure online safety is to make sure to log out of certain sites, not just by closing the window. This is especially important regarding instant-messenger programs such as Yahoo, or Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook, which often have automatic login features toremember usernames and passwords.
“Just closing a window does not guarantee your privacy,” Johnson said. “If you don’t make sure to log out as well, someone can look in the history of your visited Websites and still gain access that way.”
Since WSSU is state-funded, Internet guidelines are much stricter than at some other institutions. There have been multiple instances where people have been reportedto authorities due to serious threats and viruses being mailed through their accounts whether they were personally responsible for the messages or not. Because the threat or virus originated from their Web accounts, they will be investigated, which could result in confiscation of the computer.
It is because of such incidents that the university purchased the Cisco Clean Access Agent program for the students’ safety. Clean Access is a program that detectswhether any computer used at WSSU has updated antivirus software, cutting down on the number of viruses students could be exposed to.
According to Johnson, the university does not keep records of students’ online activities. However, there are a few exceptions to the rule.
“Ninety-nine percent of the time, we do not keep track of a student’s online activity,” he explained. “We don’t keep a log of every Web site someone goes to and what they do up there; what students look at or do is their business. But if there is an issued warrant regarding serious and potentially illegal activity going on through the system, wewill use every resource at our disposal to stop it.”
Even using file-sharing programs such asLimeWire or Napster, while not expressly forbidden by WSSU, does come with its own share of risks.
“When you use a file-sharing program to download music or movies, you’re essentially allowing other people to access your computer,” Johnson said. “In many cases, just downloading a file-sharing program can infect your computer with spyware.”
Spyware are malicious programs that live up to their name. These programs log whatever Web sites a person visits and their computer information then sends that information to a variety of companies. This explains thewave of spam many computer users receive in their email accounts daily. Worst of all, they don’t disappear when the “recent history” is removed, and it will remainin a computer.
Fortunately, there are multiple free and highly effective programs to counter spyware and countless other computer bugs. One of the most effective is Ad-Aware, availablefor free downloading at lavasoftusa.com.
Johnson offers an alternative. “I’d just go to sites like iTunes and pay the dollar to download the song there. It’s cheap and the music [is] of much better quality.”