keeping your work and data safe online

This module is to offer some guidance about keeping your own and the University's information secure and shared appropriately. As a members of the University of Wolverhampton, we are all responsible for our own IT use, as well as helping the University keep its data and systems safe.
Lets start with the first line of defence against cybercrime - your password.
Your University Password

Your University password is critical to keeping your personal and University information safe, so please make sure it is at least 12 charactersincludes upper and lower case charactersnumbers between 0 – 9 and/or non-alphabetical characters (eg. ! $ # % @ +). The National Cyber Security Centre's advice is to choose three random words (including numbers and symbols) in your password, that you can remember but that no-one else can guess.

You are responsible for keeping your password safe, and must not share it with anyone. 

SPAM and Phishing emails

Phishing (or fake/scam) emails are getting cleverer, more realistic and more frequent. Spam filters do some of the work but will never be fully effective, so it’s up to each of us to read the context of messages and look for anything suspicious.

Some useful tips to help you spot them:

  1. Look at the email address, not just the senders nameMake sure it is a valid company address (Microsoft will never send you an email asking you to log in, from a colleague’s/teacher's email address.)
  2. Look again at the email/web address. Some false addresses look very like the real ones. 
  3. Look for grammatical mistakes, not just spelling mistakes. When crafting phishing messages, scammers will often use a spellchecker or translation machine, which provide all the right words but not necessarily in the right context. 
  4. Hover your mouse over any links, to check they go to a valid address/destination. 
  5. Look out for a sense of urgencyIf the email is rushing you into doing something, (even if from your boss or teacher), before you respond, contact the sender using a different method, to check it is from them.
  6. Follow your instincts, if it feels dodgy, it probably is!
Keep your own devices up-to-date with security updates and protected with a PIN or fingerprint

It is really important that you keep your own mobile devices (laptop, phone) up-to-date with the latest operating system software and security updates. 

  • Protect your mobile: Make sure your mobile is securely protected by either a PIN, password or fingerprint scan.
  • Security updates: Keep your phones, laptops and tablets up-to-date with the latest software and security. Think about the amount of information your phone contains and what might happen if it got lost of stolen.
IT Acceptable Use Policy

We have a comprehensive IT Acceptable Use Policy that is a useful guide about your own responsibilities when using the University's digital services and systems. 

Reporting an Information Security Incident

The IT Support team are here to help you if you have any concerns about clicking on something in an email or help with updating your phone security. You can contact us using the IT Support portal or calling us on 01902 322000

Module completed

Move onto how to get help