This information is being provided to educate faculty, staff and students on a variety of computer security and privacy topics.

Home Computer Security

• http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/home_networks.html - Tips for protecting your home computer.
• http://www.microsoft.com/security/home - Microsoft's security checklist.

Privacy

• http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/tech.shtm - Government agency's recommendations for Internet security. Many good documents are found here.

Identity Theft

• http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/pubs/pub280.pdf - The US Postal Inspection Service is the lead agency in investigating crimes of identity theft. They've created this document to inform you of how to safeguard your personal information.
• http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/ - The Federal Trade Commission's resource for ID Theft. This has a step by step procedure of what to do if you think your identity has been stolen.

Credit Report

As of September 1, 2005 consumers residing in the eastern United States now are eligible to request an annual, free credit report. You are allowed to request a free credit report, once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Along with "Free" comes "Beware"

The drive to curb identity theft may have in fact opened the door to a number of phony web sites. The Federal Trade Commission has identified hundreds of fraudulent sites that may be trying to mislead consumers. These sites either charge a fee for a free report or, worse, try to collect personal information that can be used to commit future identity theft.

As reported by the Federal Trade Commission web site, the only authorized, online website where you should go to get your free, annual credit report is: https://www.annualcreditreport.com. NOTE: Many sites have been designed to look like the officially sanctioned site and/or have site names that sound very similar, make sure you are going to this one only to receive your free credit report.

The Federal Trade Commission is asking that you report to them any spam you receive that offers you a free annual credit report or if you paid for what you thought was your free annual credit report. More information about reporting fraud or spam can be found on the FTC's website.

Email and Anti-Spam

Here are some resources you can use when dealing with email security. Use these links to identify a phishing email an Internet hoax and learn out the CCC Anti-Spam software and how to use it.

• What to do about spam
  • Anti-Spam Intro
  • Anti-Spam Digest Help
  • Anti-Spam FAQ
• What is a spoofed Email?
• How to identify an Internet hoax.
• How to identify a phishing email.
• How to show Internet headers.