To help protect the WSU community and respond to an increasingly active cybersecurity threat landscape, Information Technology Services is implementing updates and security changes more frequently. Some of these updates require system restarts to fully protect your device and university data. Frequent patching and timely reboots are widely recommended security practices because they ensure critical security fixes are applied as quickly as possible.
What this means for you
While ITS will attempt to minimize disruption and offer opportunities to delay a restart where feasible, there may be rare occasions when your computer requires an unexpected restart to complete important security updates.
To help prevent the loss of work, ITS asks all faculty, staff and student employees to adopt the following habits:
- Save all open documents before leaving your workstation.
- Close documents and applications you are not actively using.
- Ensure important work is stored in OneDrive, SharePoint or another approved location with auto-save enabled
- Avoid leaving unsaved work open for extended periods.
- Lock your workstation to protect your information every time you step away.
Making this a routine habit will protect your work and help ensure your device remains secure and compliant.
Why reboots matter
Security updates often cannot fully take effect until a device restarts. Delaying reboots can leave systems vulnerable even after updates have been downloaded and installed. Microsoft notes that many Windows updates require a restart to complete installation and apply protections properly.
A best practice is to reboot your device daily to ensure all updates are applied and the computer is fresh and ready for the new day. If rebooting daily isn’t feasible, once a week is recommended.
Thank you for helping keep Shockers secure, resilient and ready for the future.
For questions or concerns, contact the ITS Help Desk at 316-978-4357, option one, or helpdesk@wichita.edu.
