Winter Break

Semester breaks are a time when the CGU community vacates campus offices leaving thousands of desktop computers unattended.

The Office of Information Technology offers the following tips to take appropriate measures to keep your computer, your files and our network safe.

— Take the time to back up your data. This will be valuable in case of any type of system malfunction or failure that may occur during the break.

— Identity theft is highest this time of year. Many of these frauds will be perpetrated by e-mail. Do not disclose any person or sensitive information over e-mail. As a matter of fact, OIT highly recommends not storing (or at least limiting) personal information on laptops.

— If you own a laptop, please be mindful of where it is at all times. Do not walk away and leave it unattended in a public place. This includes leaving it in a locked automobile. Laptops are a thief’s prime targets this time of year.

— Unless instructed otherwise by your CGU’s technical staff, please turn off your CGU-provided computer during the break. Personal computers should be taken home during the break.

— If you choose to leave your computer ON, please make sure that your office/work area is physically locked, all accounts are logged off, and any peripherals (monitors, printers, scanners) are turned off.

— If your machine must remain on and you cannot log out of your machine before leaving, make sure that you either enable a screensaver with password protection or LOCK your computer when you leave. Windows users can select a password-protected screensaver from Start > Control Panel > Display > Screensaver. Windows users can LOCK their computers by pressing the Windows Key + L. Apple users should simply log out or set up a password-protected screensaver and activate it.