Studying from home can present new challenges for security and data protection. Here you will find some useful information and guidance on how to stay safe online while studying at home. 

 

When you receive an email, please pay close attention to the top banner (This email originated outside of the University of Suffolk. Unless you recognise the sender, and know the content is safe, do not click any links or open attachments.). This banner immediately tells you that the email was not sent from within the organisation and should therefore prompt you to examine other aspects of the email. If you are unsure of an email/sender’s validity, pay attention to the sender’s address and ensure the suffix is ONLY @uos.ac.uk. We have previously received emails with the suffix uos.ac.uk@gmail.com, this suffix is an immediate red flag.

Avoid sending attachments, where possible use OneDrive or Teams to upload and share files. Try your best to avoid phishing scams using best practices laid out (PLEASE LINK PHISHING PAGE HERE). You can learn more about the current scams involving COVID-19 (Corona Virus) here.

 

When using your personal device make sure the following security features are enabled and up to date; local Firewall, Encryption, Antivirus definitions, Windows updates and security patches.

If you are using a shared device in your household, please try to use a separate user account and back up your work to the cloud (Onedrive) whenever possible.

 

Ensure all work is saved on University platforms such as SharePoint/OneDrive. These platforms are only accessible by you or anyone you have shared your data with and are backed-up.

If you need to transport data, please avoid using USB/Thumb drives as these are easily lost and rarely encrypted. Please make sure to encrypt all external storage devices containing student related data.

If equipment is shared by the household, make sure all data is stored on a University platform and the local data is erased (downloads and documents folder) this includes documents from temporary locations. Close and sign out of any online sessions involving work (Teams, OneDrive or BrightSpace etc).

 

The best way to share work with your colleagues is to use Teams, SharePoint/OneDrive. Teams and SharePoint allow you to easily share work with your lecturers, work on a file simultaneously and share screens.

 

When deciding how to save university related data, please primarily use cloud-based storage options provided by the University such as Teams and OneDrive. Upload to these platforms as soon as possible as they are perpetually backed-up and are secure.

You need to avoid saving files to your local machine for extended periods of time, especially if you share the device in your household. Avoid saving to an external storage device unless necessary, as they are often not encrypted and can become damaged causing you to lose your data. Ensure all local copies of confidential work are promptly uploaded to a safe place and deleted from the local machine.

 

Windows 10 comes with a build-in antivirus called Windows Defender, however you may consider a third party antivirus program, here are five options that are available.

 

Bitdefender 

 

Avast

 

AVG

 

McAfee

 

TotalAV