- Secure Computing
- Guarding privacy
- Identity theft
Guarding your privacy online
The security and privacy of your online identity is critical to your work at Yale. In your personal life your passwords, online banking transactions, and online purchases also depend on keeping your personal information private and protected. Although identity theft and other forms of cybercrime are on the rise, there are simple and effective precautions you can take to protect the security and privacy of your passwords and online identity.
The “Golden Rules” of online privacy
- NEVER share your Yale NetID or personal passwords with anyone. Not ever. Not your friends, coworkers, or even your Yale supervisor.
- Beware of "phishing." Yale will never ask you to provide your NetID or other personal information via an email message. No legitimate organization will ever ask you to share personal passwords through email or a web page linked to an email.
- Be sure you are dealing with the real organization. Websites and emails are very easy to fake. Never click on links in emails from banking, finance, or online shopping sites. If an email says that your bank account needs attention, navigate to your bank with your own saved bookmarks, or type the URL into your web browser yourself.
- Check the addresses (URLs) carefully as your travel the web. Use the status line at the bottom of your web browser to be sure that links take you to real sites and not impostor sites.
- Check for secure pages. Always be sure that any web page asking you for passwords, credit card information, or other personal information has a web address starting with "https:".
