[IS&T Security-FYI] Tips for Malware Protection

[Monique Yeaton]

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, an annual campaign to highlight what each of us can do to protect our computers, data and privacy. 

This email is the second in a series of weekly tips. We hope they will be useful to you!

Tip of the week: Malware Protection

Just as a cold and flu virus mutates over time, so do the various viruses, worms and other computer malware (malicious software) that can infect your machine. There were over 50 million variants in the wild last year!  

Malware is big business – there are infestations that record every keystroke you make, search for passwords and credit card numbers on your computer, or break into your address book and send spam to everyone there.  Some even advertise themselves as anti-malware: you click on them, THEN your machine is infected, and soon messages appear telling you to pay to get your machine cleaned up. Suggested precautions:

Run anti-virus software on your computer. You can use the McAfee products for free through Information Services & Technology (IS&T), or you can subscribe to a product on your own for a fee. Microsoft also has several free tools, such as Windows Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials. 
Ensure that your anti-malware software is running by checking your logs and updates regularly, especially if you hear of a significant new outbreak.
Accept the security updates for your operating system as well as the free software patches and updates for the software running on your machine, as they become available.
If you get a message offering an anti-malware software update, make sure you know it is legitimate – a few minutes on the phone with your IT support staff can save you hours of aggravation.

If you need help with computer security settings, contact the IS&T Service Desk at 617-253-1101 or helpdesk at mit.edu. For self-help, search the articles in Hermes, the IS&T knowledge base (http://kb.mit.edu).

For more tips and resources, visit IS&T's Security website (http://ist.mit.edu/security) and Stay Safe Online (www.staysafeonline.org).

This campaign is supported by the IT Security Systems & Services team at MIT. Please contact us at security at mit.edu if you have any questions, comments, or would like us to give a presentation to your department or group.


Monique Yeaton
IT Security Awareness Consultant
MIT Information Services & Technology (IS&T)
(617) 253-2715
http://ist.mit.edu/security






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