Erik te Nijenhuis, working for ICT Services of the TU/e, sums up several weaknesses in the awareness of IT security: people lose information, because they make insufficient back-ups. Moreover they leave a PC or laptop unattended without logging out or locking the door. Other problems are insufficient password protection or outdated virus protection. Cursor asked some students how security-aware they are?

“I have never lost information on my computer, but I should make back-ups more often,” says Ari Kusyanti, a Master student of Information Security Technology. “I never leave my computer unattended in the ICTheek. But at this very moment I realise I have left my computer logged in in my room where a friend of mine is staying. I trust this friend, but now I am considering going back to log out,” she says, laughing. “I think it is a good thing there is this reminder on the wallpaper of my notebook how to ‘Keep it safe’. And I see people in the ICTheek using a big lock to prevent their laptop from being stolen. I think that is a good thing too.”

Rob van Wijk, a Master student of Computer Science, thinks the campaign is a useful initiative, but doubts whether it will have a lasting effect. He gives some examples of unsafe situations he has experienced. Rob:” Yesterday I asked somebody to enter his password for me. Instead of typing it, he yelled it across the room with other people present.” Rob says that in his study association, when people forget to log out, the background of their desktop is replaced with an embarrassing picture to serve as a kind of lesson-for-the-future. Rob had his laptop stolen about one year ago: “The most recent back-up I had, was over three years old. I lost pretty much everything I had done in that time.”

Peer-to-peer
Antony Veneros, a Master student of OML, Technology Management, and Arya Adriansyah, who studies Computer Science and Engineering, both say they use a peer-to-peer network regularly, which they don’t think is safe. Antony: “I use another computer for this, to protect my laptop.” They also admit that they don’t change their passwords as often as they should. “You know you should do that, but in practice you don’t want to remember new passwords every time. It would be nice if I had a safe tool for easier management of passwords”, says Arya. /.

More on IT Security: http:/security.tue.nl