Dear Students,
Welcome back to Georgetown! We hope you had a wonderful summer. As you prepare to start another school year, we want to arm you with some important tips that will help you protect your most valuable asset – your personal information.
You may not think that information such as your name, birth date and Social Security number (SSN) are valuable right now because you are a student without much credit, if any credit at all. However, now is as good a time as any to protect your personal information.
For identity thieves, college students are prime targets because of their inactive credit history. If someone gets hold of your name and birth date together, or your SSN, they can open a credit account in your name. Before you know it, you are thousands of dollars in debt. An identity thief can also literally steal your identity with this information and use it for criminal purposes.
Take the following steps now to help you protect your personal information online and avoid identity theft:
• Use strong passwords and never share them with others. Visit security.georgetown.edu to find out how to establish these types of passwords.
• For wireless connection, use locations around campus that are approved and set up by University Information Services for wireless networking. Personal routers may not be used on campus.
• When using social networking sites (i.e., FaceBook, Twitter), do not post personal information (i.e., birth date, mailing address) or photos that could be damaging to your reputation. This information stays online forever.
• Do not share or accept copyrighted media files (i.e., movies, games, music). Uploading or downloading copyrighted material can land you in the middle of a lawsuit.
• Avoid phishing scams. This e-mail generated scam is designed to obtain your personal information illegally by disguising the e-mail as a legitimate request for information. Read more about phishing in this brochure.
• Know that using peer-to-peer software (i.e., Bittorrent, Gnutella), clicking on links in an e-mail or IM, and opening e-mail attachments can be risky. All of these can open your computer to viruses, worms and other virtual threats.
• Ensure your system is regularly updated with security patches to prevent virus attacks.
• Never e-mail confidential data to anyone.
• Lock your computer’s screen when you are away from it, even if it is just for a few minutes.
• Shut down your computer when it is not in use.
• Lock your door when you leave your residence for any amount of time.
• If you lose your computer, contact the UIS Student Help Desk at (202) 687-4577.
Special Note: If you ever feel like your safety is in danger because of something said in an e-mail or IM message, contact the Department of Public Safety immediately at (202) 687-4343.
For more information about protecting your personal information, visit security.georgetown.edu. For more information about protecting your identity, visit identity.georgetown.edu. You can also contact the UIS Student Help Desk at (202) 687-4577.
Sincerely,
David C. Smith
University Information Security Officer