We all have our habits; the dry cleaners on Tuesdays, a daily TV show. Certain habits, however, can mean the difference between security and a hazardous situation. Locking your KSC workstation when you're going to be away from it for more than a few minutes is just such a habit, because an unattended and accessible workstation creates a network security hazard.

The hazard could be as simple as some prankster who finds an unsecured workstation and uses the e-mail account associated with it to send out an inappropriate e-mail. A serious hazard would be someone who uses the unsecured workstation to gather personal or private information stored on the network, or tries to infect the network with a virus.

Habits that will help to avert these potential security hazards are:

• Use the key combination of Ctrl-Alt-Delete to lock your workstation before walking away from it. This key combination calls up the Windows Security function and allows you to choose 'lock computer' so anyone who wants to use the workstation has to log-in to the network first.



• Close and lock your office door in addition to locking your computer when you leave, even if you're just going down the hall. (This is important for those working in single or small shared offices.)



• Use the screen saver settings so the computer will lock on its own after a period of inactivity.

These habits create an environment that discourages crimes of opportunity, and they help you stay in compliance with the Computer and Network Use Policy points specific to managing your account and respecting the privacy of information.