As we near the close of Cybersecurity Month (October), here are a few reminders of cybersecurity best practices at UMD for faculty and staff members.
First, remember that UMD IT resources (e.g., Google Drive) are not intended to be used for personal storage. This is especially true for items that include your Social Security Number (e.g., a copy of your income tax return), credit card numbers, login information, and any other sensitive data you would want to be kept confidential. If you have previously used UMD IT resources for storing sensitive personal information, please reach out to your local IT team or the Division of Information Technology for advice on how to appropriately remove your data.
In addition, as you consider whether you need to remove your own sensitive data from a UMD IT system, consider also whether the UMD data you have is stored appropriately. To determine this, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I still need this data, or could I delete it entirely? For more information on when something can be deleted, review UMD’s Data Retention Schedule.
- How much risk does the data create? Is it sensitive? Would it harm someone if it was leaked? For more information on how to determine how much risk data creates, please visit UMD’s Data Classification guide and table and for a list of authorized storage locations, please check UMD’s approved storage list.
- Am I sharing files in UMD systems (ex., Google Drive) with more people than is required or appropriate? If you have questions about assigning sharing permissions and best practices, please contact the IT Compliance team at it-compliance@umd.edu.
Finally, for more information about cybersecurity at UMD, please visit DIT’s IT Security Services webpage.
We look forward to working together as a community to securely move fearlessly forward.
-- Adapted from an email to all UMD faculty and staff sent October 27, 2023 and signed by Gerry Sneeringer, Chief Information Security Officer, Joseph Gridley, Chief Data Privacy Officer, and Jeffrey K. Hollingsworth, VP and CIO --