It’s the time of year when protecting yourself is of the utmost concern. It’s cold out, so you have to protect yourself from the weather. You’re spending lots of time in close proximity of others, so you should probably get a flu shot (it’s not too late to get one if you haven’t yet). Most of the local pharmacies can get you covered with little to no money down, depending on your health care coverage. Either way, make sure to wash your hands well, and often, with antibacterial soap.
Just as important as protecting yourself from disease and the elements, you need to make sure you’re protecting your computer and personal devices from viruses and corruption. The Help@Ames desk, located on the library’s entry level, can give you a FREE copy of McAfee AntiVirus for your personal laptop or computer. McAfee is rated as one of the better antivirus softwares, according to PC Magazine. In addition to installing McAfee for free, Help@Ames can also facilitate a virus scan, should you suspect any malware or bad files on your computer.
In addition to protecting your devices with antivirus software, make sure you’re also using the strongest possible passwords for your various accounts. If you use the same password for banking, email, interlibrary loan, and social media you’re probably setting yourself up for failure. Access to your IWU Gmail, myIWU, Moodle, and wifi are all regulated by the same system. Consider taking a minute and updating your password to something unique from other passwords, taking care to make it as strong as possible. To update your password, go to passchange.iwu.edu and use the following rules to make it as strong as possible. You should probably do this for all of your accounts every once in a while.
As a caveat, if you suspect your computer or phone has been comprimised by a virus, don’t use that computer to update your passwords! Use another secure terminal to do so, while Help@Ames gets you set up with virus scans and new antivirus software. And remember – Information Technology will NEVER ask you for your password or personal information in an email, so DON’T respond to these kinds of requests.
Password Rules
It’s important to make sure that your password is strong. If someone else can guess it, or if you ever share it with anyone, that person can log in as you and wreak havoc in your name. Here are some tips for choosing a good password that nobody will be likely to guess:
- Use at least eight characters. A shorter password can be guessed in almost no time at all. All passwords at Illinois Wesleyan must be at least seven characters, but longer is better.
- Use different types of characters. A password that consists only of lowercase letters is easiest to enter, but it’s also one of the first things a password cracker might try. All passwords at Illinois Wesleyan must include at least one digit. Your password should also contain a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters. Symbols are a great idea, too.