As a good digital citizen, it is essential to practice safe computing habits while you work remotely. Doing so can protect you and the university from cyberattacks and keep your computing environment safe. 

Be aware of email and phone scams. There is an increase of cybercriminals posing as legitimate organizations with information about coronavirus (COVID-19). Using the phishing technique, they trick people into sharing sensitive information, clicking links, or opening malicious email attachments. See the latest COVID-19 hoaxes.

Protect your home network. Securing your wireless network is a key part of protecting your home working environment. The passwords used to connect to your wireless network should be strong and complex. A password manager is a good tool to generate and store unique passwords in a secure place.

Keep your work separate from your personal computing. Now that you are working remotely, it is critical that you take precautions to make sure family and friends understand they cannot use your work devices. They can accidentally erase or modify university data, or, perhaps even worse, infect the device by mistake. If you use a personal device for work, do not store university data on it and log out your work accounts.

Update and protect your devices. It is important that you update everything on your computer and mobile devices, including operating systems, web browsers, and applications. Attackers can exploit vulnerabilities in older software. Enabling automatic updates and using antivirus software can lower the risk of hacking attempts.

Follow regulations when working with protected data. All FERPA, HIPAA, GLBA, and other compliance regulations remain in effect while you work remotely. If you deal with sensitive data, you can download these types of reports on your computer, but you should delete the data once you are finished with them. 

Get technical assistance. The IT Help Desk can provide technical support and answer antivirus, updates, and cybersecurity questions. They can offer suggestions for your personal devices; however, it is up to you to ensure they are secure.

Thank you for doing your part to safeguard UNLV, its data and information systems, and yourself as you continue to work remotely during these unprecedented times.