Saturday Night Live cast member Leslie Jones has become the latest celebrity victim of internet hacking. In late August, unknown hackers took control of Jones’ personal website and posted photos of her passport, drivers license and allegedly nude images of the comedian.

Considering this is just the most recent of numerous celebrity account hacks, the question of internet safety and what the public should do to protect themselves from being hacked has become a national topic of discussion.

David Grant, associate professor in the department of languages and literatures, said he tries to teach his students to keep what one would say or show to everyone in person the same as what one would post on the internet.

“Realize that there is someone behind the screen,” Grant said. “What you post is at the hands of the public, and it is important to treat your virtual presence as your real life presence.”

While celebrity hacking victims have garnered the most media attention, everyday students and faculty are also potentially at risk and can be a target for hackers.

Eric Lukens, IT security compliance and policy analyst, recommends students don’t use their UNI e-mail for their personal accounts.

“As of right now, UNI does not remove student email accounts after they leave UNI, but we may be obligated to remove the former student accounts in the future,” Lukens said. “If we did so, we would plan to notify the account holders in advance. As such, we would certainly recommend that students use a personal email account for things like online shopping and services, such as Amazon, Netflix, Facebook [and] Dropbox.”

Michaela Squires, junior finance management major, said she trusts that the university is doing all they can to protect the students and faculty.

“I would think that since it is a university, that they would try their hardest to protect everyone’s personal information,” Squires said. “But I know that can be impossible sometimes.”

Making sure that devices such as computers, smartphones and tablets all have passwords and that the websites and apps accessed by those devices have a policy that protects its users can prove significant.
Some students use the smartphone app Dashlane, a program that keeps all passwords and login information for the other apps on the device. While Dashlane can be convenient, the question has been raised that it can lead to the hacking incidents that the public is seeing happen to celebrities and public universities.

“Cyber security is important as a ‘literacy’ in our lives, and many commonplace practices can go a long way to prevent identity theft,” said Grant, who is a user of the Dashlane app. “The consumer [or] user cannot do much, as it is not entirely at their control. That needs to be managed by cyber security and encryption experts.”

Getting to know the privacy policies of programs and apps, as well as keeping up to date on the latest technologies and how they work, is one of the most effective forms of protection against internet predators.

Besides remaining educated about the nature of growing technology, there are other ways students and staff can keep their information private from hackers on campus computers. Lyric Tracy, senior English major, suggests using one’s common sense.

“Even if you’re at a campus computer, you really shouldn’t put out personal information like you would for a job application or if you buy something on Amazon,” Tracy said. “That should be the things you do on a private computer […] Also don’t put your SSN online; I feel like that’s a no brainier.”