#70 Online Security Audit

This was an interesting assignment and I did learn a few things. Some of the things, like the ARS Guide to Online Security was pretty technical for a layperson such as myself. I was hoping I could at least understand the section, Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe: A Beginner’s Guide to Web Safety (beginner’s being the key word), but even that was a bit over my head. Other things, like the article, How to Keep Your Passwords Safe, and the tools, How Secure is my Password and Secure Password Generator I found to be very practical and helpful. I am a part time librarian in a large system with an IT department. I don’t know much about our network or security issues; they just take care of it. I do know our computers will not allow people to download programs or save things to the hard drive, to protect the network. I do know that we run the antivirus software Symantec and Malwarebytes when we are infected with malware. At home I use Norton and Malwarebytes and I haven’t had very many issues, but I am pretty careful about where I go and what I do online. I have never seen or heard of any of the programs mentioned in Securing Public Access Workstations, but when I looked at the price I guess that didn’t surprise me. Maybe something like that would work for a smaller library without so many public access computers. We do have passwords, lots of passwords. They like to mix things up, so they are hard to remember, and now they are going to make us change them periodically. I am definitely going to checkout Keepass or Password Safe, both for work and personal use. I have different passwords for sites that require more security, but I have a system, and maybe that isn’t such a good idea. The good thing is that How Secure is my Password said it would take a PC 25,000 years to crack my password though, so at least it is a good one! They do regular updates at work, and I have my computer at home set for automatic updates. The one thing I am not very good at is backing up my computer regularly. I know I need to be better and after reading about the brilliantly evil hackers in How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to my Epic Hacking, I have vowed to do it weekly. The article also made me think about all the procedures we have in place at the library to protect our patron’s accounts, and is it enough? I know about unsecured wi fi networks and how that information could be intercepted with the right know how. I’m not so sure our library users understand that though. I’m not totally sure my information is safe, even using my secure wi fi at home or paying my cell phone bill with my phone. It is just getting so hard for most of us to keep up with all the technology and the methods people find to abuse it and do you harm. So in summary, I am definitely going with an encrypted database to keep my passwords safe. I am going research wi fi security a little more. I am also going to talk to our computer contact at work and ask him some questions about our network and security programs. Thanks for another great lesson!