Security threat procedure

If you think your computer is at risk or your account has been compromised please report it to the IT Service Desk immediately.   

What happens when you report a security threat?

The IT Service Desk will assess the threat and decide the best way to deal with it.

We may need to ask you to change your password straightaway.

We’ll then carry out a series of checks:

• We’ll record what you’ve recently used your account/computer for and look for any recently added programmes
• If we find any files that have been renamed or deleted we’ll ask you to immediately remove your network cable. This is to ensure the threat can’t spread to other computers
• We’ll run virus and malware scans and remove anything suspicious that we find
• If we need to further investigate we’ll then ask our technical team to look into the threat. They may need to reimage your computer to remove the threat - this involves removing and re-installing all software and can take up to two hours

What happens when we identify a threat to your computer or account? 

Our security systems can identify potential threats to your computer or account before you spot them. If we identify a potential threat we may need to take immediate action to strop the threat escalating, including barring your account - this means you won't be able to access any services or files while we investigate. We'll contact you as soon as possible to let you know we've done this and carry out the checks outlined above.