Safe Computing: Computing best practices and appropriate IT resource use


Infection with viruses and worms threatens not only your computer but also all University networked resources. OIT provides tools to protect computers against infection. University offices may have technical staff assigned to manage computer security, but it is your responsibility to be aware of security issues and to know whether, and how, your computer is protected against computer viruses and human intruders. Your use of e-mail and web resources should be guided by safe computing practices: don't ever open unexpected e-mail attachments, and don't click on unknown links in e-mail. Your password should be strong and not easily guessed, and you should password-protect any sensitive information.


Individual departments may have specific restrictions regarding personal use of the University's information technology resources. Unless the department regulations specify otherwise, generally your use of University information technology resources should be for purposes that are consistent with the business and mission of the University.

Personal use of these systems should be incidental and kept to a minimum. For example, use of such resources by an employee for other than work-related matters should be reasonable and limited so that it does not incur additional cost to the University, does not prevent you from attending to and completing work effectively and efficiently, and does not preclude others with work-related needs from using the resources, including the shared campus and Internet bandwidth. Individual departments or units may place additional restrictions on personal use of the resources by their employees.