Letting Family or Friends Use Your Employer's Computers Can Be Bad for You !!!

A candidate for Parliament in the UK received a lot of bad publicity when people took offense at a message her husband sent from her Council email account. She isn't the first person to get into trouble over a family member misusing their work email account or PC. Very few organizations let employees' families use their PCs. If you work from home on a corporate PC, then check your company policy and clarify boundaries with household members.


Source:sans.org

Print out important documents

A digital photography expert told me that CDs are expected to "live" for up to ten years. I want kids—and maybe grandkids—to see photos, so I print the best ones. Same goes for documents: print important files so that they are accessible in future decades. Of course, you want to back up these files too.


Source: sans.org

Don't click the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of unsolicited emails

Spam filters are catching most unwanted e-mail, but some might still reach you. Most spam is designed to get you to respond with your own email or to click a link to "unsubscribe." When you respond or click the "unsubscribe" link, the sender takes your email address and adds it to a SPAM database of active email addresses. You might then start to receive a large amount of SPAM in your inbox. Do not respond or click the "unsubscribe" links.


Source: Sans.org

Don't check "remember my password" boxes

Numerous programs offer the option of "remembering" your password. Unfortunately, many of them have no built-in security measures to protect that information. Some programs actually store the password in clear text in a file on the computer. This means anyone with access to the computer can read the password. It's best to retype your password each time you log in eliminating the possibility that someone will be able to steal or use it.


Source:sans.org

Get it out of the car

Don't leave your laptop in the car - not on the seat, not in the trunk. Parked cars are a favorite target of laptop thieves; don't help them by leaving your laptop unattended. If you must leave your laptop behind, keep it out of sight.

Source:sans.org

Turn off the message preview pane in Outlook or Outlook Express

If the message preview pane is enabled, the messages in your inbox are automatically "opened" as you scroll through them. While this is convenient, it also poses a potential security risk. If you disable the preview pane, you can delete any email that looks suspicious BEFORE it's opened and avoid a possible virus infection.

Source: Sans.org