Sharing Files

If you own a Mac or PC and have an in-room connection to the Internet, you are putting your computer and your files at risk. Macs and PC’s contain software that let you share your files with other users on the Stanford network. This can be very helpful if you want to access your files from a cluster, or if you want your friends to have access to your songs or pictures.

The biggest risk of sharing files is that you might not even know that you are currently engaged in it. If you ever experimented with sharing your “My Documents” folder, it is possible that you are still sharing it with the entire Stanford community. This could allow strangers to read your work or view personal information.

Another serious risk of file sharing is setting the permissions for the share correctly. Depending on your computer and software, you might be allowing other users to add files to, or delete extremely sensitive data from your computer. If you choose to share files, be certain that you are sharing them with “Read-Only” permission so that others cannot tamper with your computer.