Safeguarding Personal Info

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SAFEGUARDING PERSONAL INFORMATION ON UNIVERSITY COMPUTERS

The following information was originally distributed to all SIU employees by the Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance on behalf of the Chancellor's Office on February 22, 2010

To the Campus Community:

You may be aware of a recent security breach of a University computer that contained Social Security numbers of former students.  Given the recent breach, I am asking all users of University computers to review steps that can be taken to safeguard personal information.

All current students have been issued Dawg Tag numbers for identification purposes.  Social Security numbers should no longer be used for student identification purposes.  

Review your computer files for personal information that should be protected including Social Security numbers, credit / debit card number and driver's license numbers.

If there is no longer a need to store the personal information, delete the data.

If the personal information is required for a University purpose, take steps to protect the data.  These steps should include encryption, an adequate firewall and updated antivirus software.  Most anti-virus software is updated weekly to address new viruses.

Keep operating system and application software current with updates and patches.  The University purchases a campus-wide site license for many common applications, including Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint) and McAfee Anti-virus Software.  Faculty and staff may download Microsoft Office and faculty, staff and students may download McAfee Virus Scan Enterprise.

Currently, the more common path for computer infections is in third-party software such as:  Java, Flash Player, Adobe Reader and Quicktime.  It is very important to keep these up to date as well.  A product that will assist in this effort by scanning for out-of-date software is called "Secunia".  There is also a software tool to search a computer for personal data called "Datafind".  

See the links below to download software updates and related information:

Encryption:  https://pki.siu.edu/encrypting_files.html

If you have questions regarding steps to safeguard personal information on a University computer, please contact your departmental LAN administrator or contact the Information Technology SalukiTech at 453-5155.