PC MAX

Things to Do -- and Not Do at Work!

What You Need to Know
As an Employer

What you do on your home computer that ultimately sabotages your security, system stability and performance is your responsibility. It mostly costs you time when your home system is on the blink. At work, a workstation that's fouled up costs serious money from the first moment it has a problem Here are some suggestions for dos and don'ts for business computers. (Make certain your employees are aware of the potential for problems).

• Don't allow anyone to use Instant Messaging, (IM), software on their systems unless you have IM specific protection on your network or you have a full time support person. See our danger page.
• If there is any way to stop using Internet Explorer, do it! See our IE page.
• Don't operate without some type of firewall, see our firewall page.
• Don't ever believe a pop-up that tells you your computer is infected with a virus unless it comes from your virus protection software. There are pop-up ads on the Internet that actually contain the spyware and you could be inviting it to infect your system. (This problem happens usually because someone mistyped in a page name and went to the wrong site).
• Don't click on a link in an E-Mail that warns you about an account you own being in some sort of danger. Go directly to the site in your browser and log-in
• Don't install software you found on the Internet unless it was from a known source, many are infected with malware that create problems.
• Don't install anything on your system that you don't REALLY need.
• Don't do typical or default installations of software. (Do custom installations and at least look at what will be installed). You may see something you don't want, possibly an older version of a component or something you don't even need.
• Don't assume anything. There are Internet worms out there that know how to disable important security features of your system, like your anti virus.
• Don't allow employees to install software on computers they don't own without explicit permission from the owner.
• Don't allow an employee to use their own computer at work. You may live to regret the consequences in any number of ways.
• Make a log for every software installation and update noting the time and date. We often have issues with systems caused by program support files that were replaced by a different version. When we ask what was the last software you installed? We rarely get an answer and it would help for anyone to be able to track back to the last system change.
• Don't forward any E-Mail to anyone that is not specifically work related.
• When forwarding mail to anyone outside the office, delete all the E-Mail addresses in the message body before sending it

Reference to IM Issues at Work from eWeek Magazine

• Do custom installations of software, you may see something listed there that you don't want or need on your system.
• Do check your system at least every quarter to see if there is some software you don't use any more and un-install it.
• Do make sure you are getting Microsoft's security updates, (they are released the second Tuesday of every month).
• Do check to make certain your anti virus software is working and is up-to-date at least once a week, if not every day.
• Do check on the software you use the most to see if there are updates or patches at least once a quarter. The ones that say they added features often contain fixes and security patches. The added features are less important than the security patches.

© 2002-2016 PC MAX All Rights Reserved