Frosh learn Internet security pointers

Back everything up. Don't assume all e-mail is genuine or private. Never give out your password. This was just some of the advice Internet Security Officer Dave Millar doled out to nearly 20 King's Court/English House freshmen last night on how to avoid on-line problems. Millar noted that the most prevalent computer problem on campus is the loss of non-saved data. "I can't emphasize enough the need to back up," he said. The best way to back up data, according to Millar, is to use special tape back-up drives that can save an entire hard drive's worth of information. At minimum, he said, any important documents should be saved on floppy disks. The University's system administrators have struggled with many e-mail-related problems as well. Millar stressed that e-mail is not necessarily private. "Generally I tell people not to use e-mail for sensitive [documents]," he said. "E-mail is like a postcard. Don't count on the privacy of it." Millar also noted that e-mail can be forged easily. A forger does not even need to know the victim's password to send e-mail that is seemingly from his account. He advised students to be wary of all e-mail and to not assume it is genuine. Strongly warning students not to pirate copyrighted software, Millar pointed out that University policy states that Penn does not "condone or tolerate the unauthorized copying of licensed commercial software by staff, faculty or students." "An individual or University department engaged [in such activity] may face disciplinary proceedings," as well as civil or criminal charges, the policy continues. Other pieces of advice included never giving a password to anyone and making sure to completely sign off of Penn InTouch to prevent someone else from accessing personal information. Millar -- who has been the ISO since the university created the job five years ago -- also discussed some of the more interesting Internet-related problems he has encountered. "Some people who are new to the Internet can make some stupid mistakes," he said. Millar once wrote a private e-mail about one of the University's Internet policies to someone asking about it, which was forwarded to 1,000 other people without his knowledge. Millar has also seen many students victimized by on-line scams. A student last year, for example, tried to buy a stereo system advertised on the Internet and sent $400 to an address in Atlanta. When the stereo never arrived, the student contacted Millar, who then called the Atlanta police. However, officials were never able to locate the company and recover the money.