Software Patches and OS Updates
If your computer seems to be working fine, you may wonder why you should apply a patch. By not applying patches, you might be leaving the door open for malware to come in.
Security
Discover tips and steps you need to take to protect your data, your electronics, and your identity.
Legal Compliance
As part of doing business at an institute of higher learning and as an Internet Service Provider (ISP), MIT must ensure that individuals who use its IT resources are following the rules and legal requirements of the local, state and federal governments. DMCA (Digital Milennium Copyright Act), PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards), and the Massachusetts Data Privacy Law 201 CMR 17 are just a few regulations that MIT must comply with.
Encryption
Encryption is a method of securing data by scrambling the bits of a computer's files so that they become illegible. The only method of reading the encrypted files is by decrypting them with a key; the key is unlocked with a password.
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
MIT has deployed a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to assist MIT clients with connectivity on and off campus. The VPN provides a solution to work through the various port blocks, firewalls and other things that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and administrators have done to protect their clients and prevent spam, virus outbreaks, and other network abuse. These preventative measures often interrupt or prevent legitimate work from happening.
Certificates
Spam Filtering
Unwanted and unsolicited email, otherwise known as spam, is on average 78% of all email sent. To reduce the amount of spam coming into our inboxes, spam filters have been put in place on MIT's email system.
Most malware attacks today occur through a combination of spam and compromised web pages. Interacting with spam can put your personal information at risk as well as download a virus to your machine that may spread to other computers on the network.
Stopit
Stopit is a confidential on-the-record venue for reporting harassment and other inappropriate behavior that occurs electronically
Passwords
Passwords protect and limit access to personal data and to the IT resources at MIT.
Virus Detection and Prevention
Protect your computing environment against viruses, spyware, and other malware.
If you arrive on campus with a computer infected by a virus, or if it becomes infected after arrival, you may lose access to the network or your data may be at risk until the problem is resolved. This can take hours, endanger your personal documents, and require you to reformat your hard drive and reinstall your operating system and all your applications from scratch. Make sure you are running virus protection software that will protect against most computer infections.
Theft Deterrents
Protect your electronic devices from theft and your data from unauthorized access if lost or stolen.
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