Get smart with IT

Published on 29 October 2015

Now that term is underway and Welcome Week is a distant memory – hopefully everyone is nicely settled (back) into University life – we thought we’d take a moment to look at how you can get more out of the IT services we have on offer to support your work.

You'll probably be familiar by now with the student portal – Liverpool Life – and the specialist system(s) you use day-to-day if you're a member of University staff but there are some things you may not know: that there's a wide range of free software, an institutional alternative to Dropbox, and tools to help you work on your mobile, laptop or tablet.

Free software

Office 2013 icons

Did you know, for example, that all our staff and students can get the latest version of Microsoft Office free of charge to install on up to 5 devices - including your phone and/or tablet?: www.liverpool.ac.uk/csd/software/microsoft-software/office-at-home/ We pre-install software on staff PCs and PCs across campus in our PC Centres but you can also download and install some applications, including specialist subject software, free of charge on your own computer. Find out more by visiting www.liverpool.ac.uk/csd/software

You can also run software on your own computer, without needing to install it, by using Apps Anywhere. Apps Anywhere can be run in any web browser, or as a standalone application on your device, and can even be used to run Windows software on an Apple Mac: www.liverpool.ac.uk/csd/apps-anywhere

An easy way to access and share your files

DatAnywhere - web portal - select file or folder

Our alternative to Dropbox gives you secure access to your filespace (known as your M: drive) and any departmental drives you can access, on any device that you may be using - PC, laptop, mobile, or tablet.

DatAnywhere is also great for collaborating with friends and colleagues: you can share large files without worrying about file size limits for attachments to emails, or the need to use physical media such as CDs, DVDs or USB pen drives.

Find out more and get started at: www.liverpool.ac.uk/csd/datanywhere

Stay secure

AV icon‌Getting smart with IT also means keeping yourself secure online. It's worth remembering that even the most cautious person can fall victim to identity theft and cyber crime through fraudulent emails which are easily hidden amid the flood of messages we get every day.

Spam and phishing attempts can put your University account(s) and data at serious risk. We do what we can to identify and quickly block any such messages but there are steps you can take to stay safe online: www.liv.ac.uk/csd/security/email-security/

As a general rule of thumb:

  1. Don't be tempted to 'just click this link'
  2. Never give out your personal information
  3. Check for poor grammar and spelling
  4. Don't open attachments from people you don't know or if you're not expecting them
  5. Watch out for common phrases like "verify your account" or "if you don't respond within xx hours your account will be closed"

If in doubt, get in touch with our Service Desk and we can advise you if the email you've received is malicious or not: www.liverpool.ac.uk/csd/getting-help

You can also install our free antivirus software, Sophos, to protect your computer: just make sure you aren't already running antivirus software if you want to install it. You can download a copy by visiting antivirus.liv.ac.uk

There are also plenty of helpful, practical tips about safe computing on our website at: www.liverpool.ac.uk/csd/security

Share your own tips

Do you use these tools, or any of our other IT services, to help you work more smartly? Why not share your tips and tricks with us on Twitter @liverpoolcsd - we'd love to hear from you!