ANSBI Best Practices for Network Users
Security
Ensuring the security of your files and of the ANSBI network is best achieved by following these simple practices.
Workstations
1) Lock your workstation when you are away from your desk. Ctl+Alt+Del includes an option to “lock” the workstation. You must supply your password to unlock the station.
2) Don’t allow others to watch what you type, and what is on the screen. Sensitive information could be viewed by someone that doesn’t need to know, and they could steal your password.
3) Shut down system when you leave for the day!
Files and Folders
1) You are the owner and the only user with permissions to read your U drive.
2) Division share drives are drives designated for a certain division, and are accessible by multiple people in that division.
3) If something is truly sensitive, store it on your U drive. That is the only true privacy on a computer network!
Network Performance/Use of Storage Space
As a good member of the ANSBI Network community, you should manage your home directory, mailboxes and network usage efficiently.
Mailboxes
1) Need to keep a text of message, but don’t necessarily need to access it through the email system? Most e-mail messages can be saved as a text file in a folder on your U drive – just open the message, click on File>Save As..> and chose your location.
2) Avoid sending files as an attachment to large numbers of people. Instead, place the file on a shared directory and include the file location in your email.
Viruses
While every computer on the network should be protected by current antivirus software, you should nevertheless follow these guidelines to avoid virus and virus hoax-related problems.
1) Never, ever open attachments with .exe on the end unless you specifically requested that someone send you a program.
2) Do not download “free” programs from non-commercial sites on the Internet. That cute little screen saver could infect the entire network.
3) If you receive an e-mail saying you’ve been infected or might have been infected, do not do anything! Check with your local tech support and they will investigate the legitimacy. Usually these messages are hoaxes designed to get you to damage your own computer by deleting system files!
U drives
1) Do not store personal items on work computers. Large numbers of digital photos, MP3 files, and cute little movie clips, e.g. “Alien Song”, take up needed space on file servers and can significantly affect the backup to tape of the server.
Network bandwidth
Access to these types of internet resources consumes a large amount of bandwidth: Streaming video; Net Radio; FTP of large files, e.g. music.
1) If your need for these files is not work-related, don’t access them from work computers.
2) If your need is work-related, avoid busy times (10:00 AM – 2:00 PM, Monday-Thursday).
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