Information Security

Cyber Security 101

Members of GRC's Information Technology team strive around the clock to protect the data resources of students, faculty and staff, as well as protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information important to the College's mission.

IT is responsible for managing security risks to information technology assets at GRC. The strategic objectives include: data loss prevention, the improved security of system and network services, proactive risk management, and crisis and security incident management.

At its core, protecting data is being aware that certain types of data should be kept secure. Here is a list of fundamentals to get you started:

Never give out your username and password to anyone, including to GRC IT staff. GRC IT staff will never ask for your password.
Keep operating systems and applications up to date by applying all critical software patches.
Use anti-virus software and keep it updated to protect against the latest threats.
Use long passwords. Passphrases are fine. Do not use single dictionary words, common passwords, incrementing characters (abc, 123, or qwerty), duplicating characters (aaa or 111), or important numbers like your birthdate or part of your social security number.
Avoid using the same password for multiple websites, accounts, and applications.
Know the type and volume of data you have and safeguard it accordingly.
Back up data on a regular basis, and purge data that you are no longer required to keep.
Protect laptops and other mobile devices from theft, protect them with a login password, and enable encryption when possible.
Lock your computer and other devices when they are unattended.
Before clicking on any links within an email, verify that the email is from a sender that you know and trust. If you are not expecting the message, do not reply to it, call the sender to verify it.
Look for the lock icon and https:// prefix when logging in or entering sensitive information on web pages.
Use the privacy and security settings on social networks to control who sees what you post.