Securing your passwords
Passwords are the most important component of your security on the internet.
Never give away your password to anyone. Never use passwords derived from your name, ID, your spouse’s or children’s name, birth date, license plate or other personal information. Never use passwords that can be found in dictionaries of any language.
Good passwords should contain lower and upper case letters, as well as digits and punctuation characters.
Do not use your bank’s online services and other important services from public computers. There are thieves who use programs which capture, save and mail keyboard strokes and Wi-Fi signals.
Do not re-enter your password when a software or web service asks you to enter it again for no apparent reason.
No serious service will send you en email instructing you to point your browser to a certain address or link and confirm your password. BCC or other Bilkent University offices will never request your password by email or through other channels. Disregard such malicious messages and do not reply to them.
Keep in mind that the internet is not secure, whatever measures one can take. Eavesdroppers are more abundant than you think and it very easy to steal passwords from data packets floating around the network.
Viruses
Viruses take advantage of people’s ignorance to spread. Mail attachments are the most common tools used to spread viruses, either intentionally or unintentionally. DO NOT open files attached to email messages, especially those with file extensions such as .exe, .com, .vbs or .pif.
The chances are that you will receive an infected email from someone you know because viruses make use of people’s address books to send out infected mail. It is good idea to reply to the sender asking for a confirmation of the mail with the attachment.
Beware of “greeting cards” or “cool programs”, “cool screen savers”, “programs that will speed up your computer”, “programs that will enable you to download faster” or “programs that will fix bugs”.
Having an anti-virus program installed on your computer doesn’t mean that your computer is immune to viruses so you must always be vigilant.
Using Credit Cards and Buying on the Internet
Think twice before you submit your credit card information on the internet. Check the network address (URL). There are many fake web sites that prey on customers who might mistype a well-known address.
Firewalls and Internet Security Software
We strongly recommend that you use a firewall program which will check and control traffic to and from your computer.