## Well begun is half done

Reading time
15 minutes

What you will learn
You will learn how you can properly organise your digital affairs before starting your studies.

Summary
During your studies, you will make use of your laptop, mobile phone and all kinds of online apps and tools on a daily basis. The digital tools you use privately and the ones you use for your studies may also partly overlap. So it is a good idea to properly set these up before the first day of your studies so that you can handle any sensitive data (e.g. personal data) you may be confronted with later in a secure manner.

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## In the past...

In the past. Everything was better back then. You often hear people say this and perhaps there is some truth to it. After all, not that long ago, computer viruses, ransomware and DDoS attacks did not yet exist. But we must all keep up with the times, so it is smart for both the younger and older generations to also know something about how things used to be:

In the coming years, you will increasingly be confronted with digital applications, files containing sensitive information and important documents in your studies. For you as a student, that means that there are three key agreements which all students must abide by (this may sound strict, but it is essential for your security and ours, too):

1. For files containing sensitive information, you should in principle only use the file storage application [name of application] provided by the education institution; that way you can avoid the risk of these files ending up somewhere outside of the education institution.
2. In communications with education institution employees or external contacts which are necessary for your studies, never use any email address other than the one given to you by the education institution.
3. Ensure you practise proper digital hygiene by performing the following four checks before starting your studies.

Read through the checks carefully and complete the steps on your own laptop, mobile telephone and/or tablet, so you can be sure that when you start your study programme in the upcoming period, you will in any case be doing this part of your studies in a secure manner.

## Check: Updates

With considerable regularity, researchers and ethical hackers discover new security breaches in frequently-used software. The only way to ensure that malicious parties cannot gain access your files, webcam, means of communication and equipment is to update your software regularly.

NOTE: you do not need to update the software provided by the education institution, such as [...], as we do that for you. This check concerns software which you have installed yourself on your laptop, tablet or telephone.

To update your software, we recommend you follow these steps: [space for step-by-step plan / screencast with explanation of the steps to be followed].

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## Check: Backups

Despite updating your equipment, things may still sometimes go wrong. You might forget your laptop on the train, your telephone might get stolen or maybe your housemate will use your new tablet as a cutting board. There is nothing worse than realising that the report you have been working so hard on for weeks has suddenly disappeared...

Many students already use the [name of platform] cloud storage service offered by our education institution for saving their files. In that platform, we automatically make backups for you, which you can recover up to [number] days later by [step-by-step file recovery plan].

To back up other files and/or devices, we recommend you follow these steps: [space for step-by-step plan / screencast with explanation of the steps to be followed].

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## Check: Antivirus

No matter how careful you are, anyone can still accidentally click on the wrong link or end up on an unsafe website. As long as you have good antivirus software running on your equipment, that isn't necessarily a big problem.

Your education institution offers you the antivirus software [name of application]. We strongly recommend that you install this free software on all devices you use for your studies. [space for step-by-step plan / screencast with explanation of the steps to be followed].

NOTE: if you still suspect that one of your devices is infected with a virus, please contact [contact details of ICT/Helpdesk] immediately.

## Check: 'Ransomware'

Ransomware is malicious software which can block access to your equipment (hold it hostage) or encrypt all of your files. You can only regain access to your equipment and files after paying a ransom, in the form of Bitcoins, for instance.

Most ransomware is sent as an attachment in a fake email, in .pdf, .exe. or .doc format, for example. If you don’t totally trust the sender of the email, you should never click on such files! By clicking on the file, the ransomware may be installed on your device.

The education institution offers students the software [name of application] for free, with which you can check periodically whether your device is infected. You can download this software here [link].

NOTE: if you still suspect that one of your devices is infected, please contact [contact details of ICT/Helpdesk] immediately.

## Check: Passwords

On average, the Dutch have approximately 30 online accounts and, as such, a multitude of different passwords. On one website, the password is required to have at least eight characters, while on the other, it must include at least two capital letters, etc. How are you supposed to keep track of all of these in secure manner...?

The education institution recommends that all students use a password manager. This is software which enables you to save all of your passwords in a secure manner and which you can access with a single master password. As a result, you can come up with very complex passwords, since you no longer need to remember them yourself. That makes it much more difficult for malicious parties to gain access to your accounts.

The education institution offers you the password manager [name of application] for free. You can download and install it here [link]: [space for step-by-step plan / screencast with explanation of the steps to be followed].

NOTE: if you are no longer able to obtain access to one of the applications offered by the education institution, please contact [contact details of ICT/Helpdesk] immediately.

## Check: Encryption

Many popular applications, such as WhatsApp and Telegram send all messages in encrypted form. This means that these messages are useless to anyone who intercepts them, because a decryption key is required in order to read the message.

Because you may also work with sensitive information during your studies, we request that you also encrypt all communication and files, to eliminate any risk that malicious parties might be able to view these. For this purpose, the education institution offers you the encryption software [name of application] for free. You can download and install it here [link]: [space for step-by-step plan / screencast with explanation of the steps to be followed].

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## Check: Netflix-laptop?

During your studies, you will come into contact with all kinds of people, including fellow students, lecturers, researchers, housemates, and so on. You will work together with many of these people and regularly have to have a look at each other's screen.

In general that's not a problem, of course, since you are all doing the same study programme and all have your security features in good order because of having periodically performed these four checks. But it is still wise to keep your own equipment to yourself wherever and as much as possible.

If you live in a student house, for instance, make sure that your laptop does not become the designated Netflix laptop everyone hooks up to the beamer to watch films together. Make sure you don't leave your mobile phone lying around all over the house and take care to always lock your screen if you will briefly be away from your computer.

In this way, we can achieve good digital hygiene together and you can go through your study programme feeling safe!

If you have any other questions about these four checks, you can always contact [contact details of ICT/Helpdesk]. Thank you for your cooperation!