Computing security grows on UW-Madison students

When it comes to safe computing practices, students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison need some improvement.

Sixty percent of students reported in a recent survey that they never change the passwords they use for their campus accounts. About three-quarters of them, however, reported that they never intentionally share their NetID and passwords with others.

“That’s a good start, but it still gives us some cause for concern,” says Jim Lowe, chief information security officer. “We would like to see all students regularly change and never share their passwords.”

Results came from the 2006 UW–Madison Student Computing Survey, which is sponsored by the university’s Division of Information Technology (DoIT).

Other results indicate continued growth in communication and connection:

• Nearly 70 percent of UW–Madison students have used an online course-management system. Of these students, more than two-thirds had a positive or very positive experience with it.
• Laptop ownership surged past desktop ownership for the first time. Almost two-thirds of students own a laptop, compared to 46 percent owning a desktop computer. Only one-quarter of those students report taking their laptops to class on a regular basis.
• Reported cell-phone ownership is actually less than last year — 79 percent, compared to 87 percent — perhaps due to students not knowing what name to give to their devices that combine PDA, cell phone, camera, e-mail, MP3 and instant-messaging capabilities.
• More than half of students report owning a portable music and/or video player.
• Nearly one-third of students report regular campus wireless use. More than half of laptop owners use wireless in their homes. Internet use has flattened to an average of 19 hours per week after peaking at 26 hours per week in 2004.
• Nearly 60 percent of students say instant messaging is “important” or “very important” to them.
• 89 percent of the students indicated overall satisfaction with UW–Madison’s technology resources. The mean overall satisfaction has grown steadily, from 3.9 on a 5-point scale in 2004 to 4.2 this year.

This is the eighth year of DoIT’s annual student survey.