Technology Proficiency: Online Safety

For Help with these skills, visit the online resources listed with each item or contact the InfoDesk.

onlineBasic Proficiency

  1. Use strong (complex or long) passwords.
    1. Research from CMU illustrates that length is more important than complexity. We recommend passwords with at least 14 characters; 16 or more characters is better.
    2. You can experiment with passwords and the speed with which they can be guessed at How secure is my password.
  2. Set-up and use Google Apps two-step authentication. Find out more here.
  3. Be able to recognize email phishing and know how to report email spam. Find out more here.
  4. Know to never send sensitive information via email unless it is in an attachment that is encrypted with a strong password.  (See item 1 for info on strong passwords.)
  5. Use passwords to Encrypt Microsoft Office documents that contain sensitive information using a strong password. (See item 1 for info on strong passwords.)
  6. Understand the difference between HTTP and HTTPS connections for web sites, and know when to insist on an HTTPS connection. Consider adding the HTTPS Everywhere extension to your Chrome browser.
  7. Understand the risks of public wifi services.

Last updated March 17, 2015