The Biology IT office strongly recommends that all University-owned computers be joined to our campus’s Active Directory system. This allows each person that accesses a campus computer to sign in using their own HOKIES credentials. There are several benefits to using this system verses the more traditional system of having one user account be shared among all of a computer’s users.

Each user signing in with their own credentials ensures that their personal information (such as their emails, passwords, and cloud storage files) is kept as secure as possible and allows for a more granular control over computer admin privileges. Shared accounts are inherently less secure because passwords are known by many people and are typically written down in plain view near the computer.

In the event that a shared computer user account is required due to software limitations, the account password should comply with VT’s password policy, be changed frequently, and never be posted publicly.