Tips for Law Students During the #StayAtHome Semester

Tips for Law Students During the #StayAtHome Semester

4.1.2020

By Brandon Vogel

A significant number of law students will spend the rest of the spring 2020 semester attending online classes from home, rather than in-person classes on campus, and participating in virtual study groups rather than face-to-face study sessions.

While most of these students are likely comfortable with technology, they may not be familiar with the internet setups in their homes or with some of the technologies they need to use to complete their coursework and communicate with their professors. Despite their digital skills, understandably, cybersecurity may not be top of mind for students at this time.

NYSBA’s Committee on Technology and the Legal Profession has prepared a new cybersecurity alert, “Tips for Students During the #StayatHome Semester.” It provides practical and concise information on steps law students should take to remain safe online.

Among the recommendations:

• Maximize your WiFi speed: Take inventory of your devices using WiFi and then remove all unwanted devices from it.
• Create strong passwords: Passwords should have at least eight characters; a combination of letters, numbers and symbols; and mean something only to the user.
• Embrace two-factor authentication: Multiple credentials make it harder for hackers to attack your systems.
• Safely store confidential information: Store confidential documents separately to protect them from a virus and store them in a Zip folder, an encrypted folder that prevents a virus from picking up any information inside it.

Read the full alert here.