1. Be a password genius

  • Don't share passwords - Don't share your passwords with anyone, even your graduate or administrative assistant. At Texas A&M University, if you share your NetID password, you can be locked out of your account.
  • Don't reuse passwords - Don't use the same password for all of your accounts. If a person discovers that password, they will have access to all of your accounts. Consider using a password vault such as KeePass or LastPass to keep your passwords safe and to save you the headache of trying to remember multiple passwords.
  • Use strong passwords - Strong passwords are difficult to guess but easy to remember. For example, try using a short phrase or sentence.
  • Set up Password Recovery Settings - Take a few minutes to set up your Password Recovery Settings and turn off over-the-phone resets. This will allow you to change your NetID password if you forget it and will prevent others from pretending to be you in attempts to change your password over the phone. To set it up, visit gateway.tamu.edu and click "Password Settings."

2. Protect confidential information

Never provide student information to anyone besides the student. This includes when posting grades, returning papers or talking to parents. Encrypt confidential information on mobile devices before transferring it to another person or device.

3. Lock your screen when stepping away

When you step away from your computer, even for a few minutes, lock the screen. For Windows users, hold the Windows key and press the "L" key.

4. Act responsibly and ethically with Texas A&M resources

Never use Texas A&M resources for commercial purposes or to conduct illegal activities.

5. Backup critical files

Always backup critical files so in the event of a catastrophic storage failure, you won’t have a catastrophic data loss. Maintaining proper backups gives you peace of mind and allows you to restore critical files.