It’s hard to remember a time when we functioned without our electronic devices! They have become such a big part of our lives, but our constant use of technology to keep in touch, pay bills, stay on top of the news, shop, and research things has a downside: our personal information is constantly at risk.

The rate of cybercrimes has grown exponentially and is consistent with the growth of technology. As technology expands and develops, so do the cybercrimes that are committed. Our data can be exposed to criminals who commit crimes such as identity theft and credit card fraud – unless we take the proper precautions.

La Sierra University cares about protecting your information and your identity. For that reason, we ask that you do not send personal identifying information – such as documents containing social security numbers – over email, unless your email has been encrypted.

There are many applications that have the ability to encrypt attachments. An example is provided below for WinZip: 

 

1. Open a folder to the location of the file(s)/folder(s) that you wish to encrypt.

2. Select the file(s)/folder(s) that you wish to encrypt. Note that in order to select more than one file/folder, you must press the "Ctrl" key on the keyboard while selecting them.
3. Right-click over one of the selected items.
4. Select WinZip. From the submenu that appears, select "Add to Zip File."
5. In the "Add Files" dialog box, specify a 'File name' and 'Destination' (location) for the finished Zip file.
6. Select ".Zip" as the Compression Type.
7. Under Encryption, check the "Encrypt files" box.
8. Click the "Add" button.
9. A pop-up window may appear saying "You should be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the various encryption methods before using this feature. Please press the F1 key for more information, particularly if this is the first time you are using encryption." Select the "OK" button to continue.
10. In the "Enter Password" field, enter an appropriate password. Passwords must be at least eight characters and must contain at least one of each of the following: a lowercase character (a-z), an uppercase character (A-Z), a number character (0-9), and a symbol character (!, @, #, $, %, ^, &, *, etc.).
11. In the "Re-enter Password" field, enter the same password from Step #10, and remember the password for future reference.
12. Click the "OK" button.
13. A pop-up window may appear saying "Add Complete. Your files have been added. The files will be compressed and encrypted when saved." Click the "OK" button to continue.
14. The encrypted WinZip file should be in the location identified in Step #5 above.
15. The password must not be included in the same message and should either be included in a separate email or verbally provided to the intended user.