Title: Device Security and Disconnection Policy
Effective Date: November 2004
Issuing Authority: Information Technology
Program Coordinators: Director of IT and Libraries
Last Updated: November 2004
The St. Olaf campus network and computing systems are critical components in the educational and business functions of the college. Threats to the reliability, functionality, and security of those systems are dealt with aggressively and are not tolerated.
All users (faculty, staff, students, and visitors) who bring a personally-owned computer to campus and connect that computer to the campus network are responsible for ensuring that they are running an anti-virus protection software package and that the virus definitions files are up-to-date. In addition, the computer(s) must be updated with the most recent security and vulnerability patches issued by the software manufacturers.
IT will disconnect from the campus network, without warning, any computer that threatens the stability of the campus network. The computer owner will be contacted and asked to either take action to correct the problem or to refrain from actions that created the problem. Any individual found a second time with the same or similar issue will lose computing privileges for one week. A third infraction will result in the loss of privileges for one month. A fourth infraction, at a minimum, will result in the loss of privileges for the remainder of the academic year.
Viruses, Worms, Spyware, etc.
IT will disconnect from the campus network, without warning, any infected computer, or any system that has not been patched for the latest security vulnerabilities, or any computer generating traffic flows consistent with viruses. The computer owner will be contacted and asked to clean the offending machine of the virus, worm, or other similar problem, install anti-virus protection software with an auto-updating feature and/or update their computer operating system software. Once the owner has completed this task, the network connection will be restored. If, after reconnection, the computer becomes infected and threatens the campus network or computing systems due to the owner knowingly not installing anti-virus protection software with auto-updates and/or not patching their computer, the owner’s network and computing privileges will be terminated for one week. A third infraction will result in the loss of privileges for one month. A fourth infraction, at a minimum, will result in the loss of privileges for the remainder of the academic year.
Wireless Access Points
St. Olaf College provides computing and networking resources in order to meet the academic needs of students, faculty, and staff. The campus network has been augmented with a wireless network available in certain areas of campus. To maintain a secure and highly functional wireless network, the college has placed certain restrictions or bans on equipment, activities, and/or software found to degrade the functionality or security of the systems or network. While on campus, members of the St. Olaf community and visitors to campus are restricted from installing and using personal wireless access points and/or configuring wireless network interface cards (NIC’s) to serve as an access point.
IT will disconnect from the campus network, without warning any wireless access point or computer configured to serve as an access point without notification. Any individual found a second time installing and/or using a personal wireless access points and/or configuring a wireless network interface cards (NIC’s) to serve as an access point will lose computing and network privileges for one week. A third infraction will result in the loss of privileges for one month. A fourth infraction, at a minimum, will result in the loss of privileges for the remainder of the academic year.
IT reserves the right to restrict the use of other devices that are shown to cause interference with the campus network.
Excessive Network Traffic
Some programs generate excessive network traffic that threatens the functionality and stability of the network. IT will disconnect from the network any computer or node generating excessive traffic. IT will contact the computer owner and request that the activity that created the excessive traffic cease. The network connection will then be restored. If, after reconnection, the computer owner continues to engage in the activities that generated the excessive traffic the owner’s network and computing privileges will be terminated for one week. A third infraction will result in the loss of privileges for one month. A fourth infraction, at a minimum, will result in the loss of privileges for the remainder of the academic year.