How do I keep my computer from getting infected?
If you suspect that your University owned computer has been infected with a virus or are experiencing other related problems please contact help@engineering.ucsb.edu.
If ECI does not manage your computer or if this is your personal computer, here are a few preventive guidelines to make sure that your computer remains in the safe zone:
Remember to maintain your software with the latest security updates.
For example, if you use Windows ensure that automatic updates are enabled.
Even if you are on a Mac or on a Linux Operating System, there are updates you should do.
This should also include making sure Adobe Flash and Java are removed if you have it installed on your computer as they are no longer regularly needed or updated.
It's vital to have an anti-virus program installed and that you keep its virus definitions up to date.
There are many free anti-virus programs available online such as Immunet/ClamAV, AVG, and Malwarebytes.
If you use Windows 7 or 8, Microsoft.com provides a free anti-virus software package called Microsoft Security Essentials.
For Macs, Sophos provides a decent Anti-Virus program for free.
Use a recommended Browser
Ultimately you will choose which browser you will want to use but we recommend Firefox for web browsing from http://www.mozilla.com/.
If you are on UCSB Connect, we recommend you use Chrome (https://www.google.com/chrome) and the UCSB Connect Web Mail App.
Both browsers have Extensions/Add-ons you may want to consider using, especially when you are browsing different websites for security purposes.
For the daring...
There are some extensions/add-ons for Firefox and Chrome that you can use to help you browse a little more securely.
Firefox Multi-Account Containers
Mozilla provides an Add-on called Firefox Multi-Account Containers.
This add-on basically allows you to treat tabs on Firefox to act independently for certain things.
Such as if you wish to have your UCSB Connect Account up Firefox and your personal GMail account, you can use this extension to create a seperate tab that will be color coded and separated from the login information of the other tab.
NoScript
Firefox has an Add-on called NoScript that blocks website scripts by default unless you specify to allow.
NoScript is slightly disruptive in that a lot of websites do rely on various scripts to show off their content, so it does require a user to spend time deciding what to allow and disallow script wise.
This is only recommended to Power Users who is willing to deal with the minutia of allowing or disallowing things.
ScriptSafe
ScriptSafe is an extension you can add to chrome that you can allow or deny running scripts for various websites.
Similar to what NoScript does for Firefox
uMatrix
uMatrix is another Add-on/extension for both Chrome and Firefox that allows users to allow or forbid scripts running on certain web pages.
Always use a firewall
Infections can happen from external sources.
Having a firewall up and configured to only allow what you want to allow will limit the number of issues later.
It is never a good idea to have the firewall off all the time.
Be careful with what you download from your email or from the Internet in general.
Avoid clicking on popups or links saying your computer is infected with malware/viruses or is performing slow and how to improve it while browsing on the web.
Some websites may be using content providers that have been recently hacked, inserting trick advertisements to trick you into click on them to install malware.
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