Internal Reminders

• Watch Out for Fake Virus Alerts
  Rogue security software, also known as "scareware," is software that appears to be beneficial from a security perspective but provides limited or no security, generates erroneous or misleading alerts, or attempts to lure users into participating in fraudulent transactions.

• Resolutions for the New Year
  As the new year begins, many people start off by listing their resolutions for the rest of the year. When you are thinking about how to improve in 2012, make sure you do not forget the possible security-related resolutions!

• Understanding Facebook Security
  Many state employees and agencies request access to social media sites (usually Facebook) for legitimate, work-related tasks. The Office of Information Security and Controls (OISC) maintains the filtering on the State network and is ultimately the group that removes the block on verified requests. However, a few of the emails received makes us (OISC) believe that some users do not truly understand how Facebook security works. Just because you have access to the site, does not mean you'll find what you're searching for.

• Password Strength Meter
  Using strong passwords is an important administrative control in the “toolkit” of Information Security. Computer users must always create passwords that are difficult to guess or “crack”. To achieve this, use passwords that do not contain common words, linked common words, and/or words with numbers or punctuation at the beginning or end. Foreign language words, and words spelled backward, are easily “cracked” by readily available software. An example of how to create a strong password is to use the first letter of each word in an easily remembered phrase, while incorporating numbers and/or special characters, and both upper and lower case. For example, M2fsRb&b = My 2 favorite sports R baseball & basketball.