News

It is Cybersecurity - how to keep safe!

15/05/2017

Following Friday’s cyber attacks I would like to remind everyone of the need to be vigilant in protecting their computers from similar attacks.

It is the responsibility of all individuals to be mindful of the need for information security across the institution and to be aware of relevant policies and procedures.

Please see the Information Security Policy for an overview of information security at AU.

The National Cyber Security Centre has issued the following advice for individuals :

1. Run Windows Update

2. Make sure your antivirus product is up to date and run a scan – if you don’t have one install one of the free trial versions from a reputable vendor.

3. If you have not done so before, this is a good time to think about backing important data up – you can’t be held to ransom if you’ve got the data somewhere else.

Please be aware of the steps needed to keep your computer secure. See https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/is/regulations/security/ for more information.

• Ensure that Microsoft Windows is updated. This is done centrally by IS on university owned computers on the PAU domain. If your departmental computer is not on the PAU domain then it is your responsibility to ensure that it is updated.
• Ensure that you have anti-virus protection. Again, this is done centrally by IS on university owned computers on the PAU domain. If your departmental computer is not on the PAU domain then it is your responsibility to ensure that it is protected.
• Regularly back up your data. M drives and shared filestore are backed up by Information Services and One drive and Sharepoint are automatically backed up.
• If you think you have a virus, please follow the advice on https://faqs.aber.ac.uk/106
• Many emails that are used by third parties for malicious purposes can look very convincing. Follow the guidelines on https://faqs.aber.ac.uk/394 for more information on assessing if an email is genuine or not.

Information Services works hard at all times to protect the University from cyberattacks. We have ensured that our anti-virus and windows update systems are fully up-to-date. We have been working over the last year on removing all legacy Windows operating systems from the network – with only a handful of Windows XP computers remaining. These last few machines will either be isolated from the main University network or turned off today. Windows Vista machines will also be turned off or isolated as support for them has also ended. 

Thank you for cooperating with us to keep our data safe.