Protecting Your System

Help Protect Yourself and Westchester Community College Against Viruses

The Westchester Community College (Westchester Community College) Data Network, also known as StarNet, was hit by a virus just as the Fall semester 2003 was about to begin. While the virus has been eliminated from campus machines, the network remains vulnerable from three sources important to Westchester Community College personnel.

  • PCs at home that run Virtual Private Network (VPN), also called SecuRemote, may infect the network with any virus that attacks them.
     
  • PCs that dial in to campus computers can also infect the entire network.1
     
  • PCs brought to campus, whether college-owned2 or faculty-owned, that connect to the Internet while on campus can also infect the network if they contain viruses.
     
    1. Note that Westchester Community College does not service home PCs.
    2. College-owned laptops were recalled early in the Spring 2004 semester to ensure that they meet college guidelines for security updates. All college owned laptops are required to be brought to Computer Services in Tec 21E on a yearly basis to be checked and updated as needed.

To help prevent viruses from spreading to and from any of your computers, you can follow the basic principles used to protect on-campus computers:

  1. Be sure that you have virus protection software such as Norton AntiVirus or McAfee VirusScan installed on your computer, and that:
     
    • Your software’s license is up to date
    • The program is set to download automatically the latest virus definitions at least once a week.
    • The program is set to scan each file that you open.
    • The program performs a complete scan of your system at least once a week. The document Automating Virus-protection Updates and Scans contains detailed procedures for getting maximum protection from your anti-virus software.
       
  2. Be sure that your Windows operating system has all the critical updates installed, and that Windows checks for new updates automatically if possible. The section Keeping Windows Up-to-Date contains detailed procedures for updating Windows and setting it to retrieve updates automatically.
     
  3. If you have a cable or DSL connection at home, you may wish to acquire a hardware or software firewall that you can configure to prevent intrusions from unknown machines. For more information on what firewalls do and how they work, see http://computer.howstuffworks.com/firewall.htm. The two most popular anti-virus software vendors – Symantec (Norton AntiVirus) and McAfee (VirusScan) also offer firewall software. In addition, the following site gives information about free firewall software: http://www.free-firewall.org.

The first two guidelines are the minimum necessary to protect your computer from viruses. The third provides another layer of protection and helps keep computer hackers from invading your computing environment.

In addition, you should follow other safe computing guidelines:

  • Don’t open e-mail attachments unless you know both the person who sent it and the reason it was sent. Some viruses are spread via attachments that seem to come from legitimate addresses but are simply means of spreading the virus. When in doubt, don’t open the attachment without checking with your correspondent first. And be sure your virus scanner checks the attachment automatically before you open it.
     
  • Don’t download files from Web sites unless you are sure the files are virus-free; reputable Web sites usually certify that their files do not contain viruses.
     
  • Avoid sharing files with other computers either via removable media or via electronic services unless you are confident that the source is trustworthy.

For other safe computing guidelines, see the following Web sites:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/
http://www.claymania.com/safe-hex.html  http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/articles/safehex.html  http://www.trendmicro.com/en/security/general/guide/overview.htm 
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,113175,00.asp

In addition, the site http://www.windowsupdate.com provides a three-step guide to ensuring that your personal computer is secure from virus and hacker attacks.

Or search the Web for the phrase “safe computing” to find a list of sites with good advice.

Keeping Windows Up-to-Date

The remainder of this document contains information on how to update your Windows system. 

Update any Windows Version
  1. Start your Web browser (Internet Explorer).
  2. In the Address bar, type www.windowsupdate.com, and press the Enter key. The system automatically begins checking for updates.
  3. Follow the prompts and be sure that you install all Critical Updates suggested by the system.
     
    If you have not updated your system for a while, you may have several critical updates to install. Keep checking until the system no longer has critical updates for your system.
Keeping Windows XP Up-to-Date
To manually update your Windows XP system files using Windows Update:
  1. Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Windows Update. The system takes you to the Windows update Web site.
  2. Follow the prompts and be sure that you install all Critical Updates that Microsoft suggests.
     
    If you have not updated your system for a while, you may have several critical updates to install. Keep checking until the system no longer has critical updates for your system.

Automatically Updating Windows XP
You can set your system to update Windows XP automatically.

  1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
  2. Click the Automatic Updates tab and complete the dialog box as shown in the following illustration, then click the OK button.


      

Keeping Windows 2000 Up-to-Date
To manually update your Windows 2000 system files using Windows Update:
  1. Click Start, and then click Windows Update. The system takes you to the Windows update Web site.
  2. Follow the prompts and be sure that you install all Critical Updates that Microsoft suggests. If you have not updated your system for a while, you may have several critical updates to install.
     
    Keep checking until the system no longer has critical updates for your system.

Automatically Updating Windows 2000
You can set your system to update Windows 2000 automatically.

  1. Click Start, and then click Settings.
  2. Double-click Automatic Updates. (example of icon at right)
  3. Complete the dialog box as shown in the following illustration, and click the OK button.


   

Keeping Windows 98 or Windows Me Up-to-Date

To update your Windows 98 or Windows Me system files:

  1. Click Start, and then click Windows Update. The system takes you to the Windows update Web site.
  2. Follow the prompts and be sure that you install all Critical Updates that Microsoft suggests. If you have not updated your system for a while, you may have several critical updates to install.
     
    Keep checking until the system no longer has critical updates for your system.
     
    Note: You can also open Windows Update by clicking Start, pointing to Settings, and then clicking Windows Update.

  

Information Technology Home Page

75 Grasslands Road, Valhalla, NY, 10595 • 914-606-6600
Site Map • Disclaimer/Privacy Policy