It's Midnight... Do You Know Where Your Data Is?
The morning starts like any other. You're sitting down at your
computer to finish working on that big project - the one that's
taken the biggest part of your days for the past week. Yesterday
at 4:30 when you saved it, there were over 115 pages of course
syllabi for the departmental self-study.
You flip the switch on your computer, as usual. But this time,
instead of the beeps you usually hear, there's silence. You try
again. Nothing. You call the Computer Center and a technician
comes to your office. After the technician checks your computer,
you hear the words we all dread: "It's dead. The hard drive is
gone. We'll have to replace it."
So what about your 115 pages? And the departmental budget? And
the mailing lists to alumni? All gone. And a hardware failure
isn't the only way to lose important data. What about other
types of disasters? An uninformed user or a mischievous hacker
can damage or lose data with as much finality as a dead hard
drive. What steps can you take to protect your important work?
Back up your data
To determine how often you should back up, think about the
consequences of losing your data. How many days of work would
you lose? Can the work be recreated? Can deadlines be moved?
Do you want to spend as many days redoing the work as you did in
the original effort? Compare these risks with the costs of
backing up. Backups should generally be made at least once per
week, and at least one backup should be stored off-site. The
Computer Center will gladly store your office's backup in our
vault in Clement Hall. If you are interested in this service,
please call us at 3387.
Guard your computer
If your computer is vulnerable to unauthorized use in your
absence, or if your computer contains data that is sensitive or
confidential, you should look at access control. Some software
utility programs can prevent unauthorized access to the entire
computer by requiring a password. If you only wish to restrict
access to certain confidential files, most of the word processing
and spreadsheet programs used here on campus have a password
option enabling you to set a password for a particular file.
However, use caution when enabling a password option on a file:
if the password is forgotten, there is no way to reset it.
Also, be careful when leaving your computer unattended. Although
some screen saver programs can prevent access without a password,
it is possible to bypass many of them by simply rebooting the
system.
Log out of VAX accounts
If you don't log out of your VAX account, someone else may be
able to sit down at your computer and use your account. This
person would then have the same capabilities that you have, which
might include viewing or altering data files, reading your mail,
or sending mail from your account. Be sure that you use the
LOGOUT (lo) command on node Gemini and the LEAVE command on node
TVAX.
Be creative with your password
Passwords for student accounts expire every 180 days; faculty and
staff account passwords expire every 90 days. When it's time to
change your password, pick a password that is hard to guess.
Don't choose your nickname, or the name of your spouse, children,
dog, car, or favorite sports team; these are things that people
who know you might easily guess. Do choose a password that is
unique and easy for you to remember. According to Frank Bush,
Systems Manager for the Computer Center, putting two words
together to form a nonsense compound word is a good idea. Your
password must be at least six characters in length. Also, you
will not be able to reuse a password for one year. For help in
resetting your password, call the Computer Center at 3387.
Protect against viruses
Computer viruses can be deadly. The infamous Michelangelo virus,
for example, destroyed entire hard drives. The Computer Center
has free virus protection programs available for both DOS
machines and Macintoshes. Install the antiviral software on your
desktop system, and use it to scan your hard drive and all floppy
drives that are used in your system. Keep your antiviral
software updated as new releases become available from the
Computer Center. To receive a free copy of a virus protection
program for your computer, call 3387.
- Annette B. Littrell
The Computing Connection, Vol 3, No 2, January 1994
D. W. Mattson Computer Center, Tennessee Technological University
This page maintained by: Lauren Neal
For additional information, contact Lauren Neal, LNeal@tntech.edu
Last updated: December 11, 1998
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