Self-Managed Computers: Your Responsibilities
Every member of the University community has a responsibility to take precautions that will help protect our information and computer systems. If you decide to manage your own computer, you are responsible for the following:
- Administration. You are the administrator of your machine, and therefore must acquire, license, install, configure, and maintain all software applications and the operating system(OS). Research and maintain OS patches (updates) at least weekly, or configure your computer to automatically download and apply updates.
- Anti-Virus. Run the current version of anti-virus software available from the ITS HelpDesk web site (See http://helpdesk.its.uiowa.edu/software), and configure it to update virus signatures daily.
- Firewall. Configure and activate the firewall feature on your computer to block all unneccessary communications. Harden the system by shutting off all unnecessary communication services, restricting access to those you need by IP address. Do this before you connect to the university network otherwise there is a good chance your machine will be accessed or infected before you finish the installation.
- Software. Install only reputable licensed software. Ensure all software has been approved by the UI General Counsel's Office. The legal team has become more proactive in ensuring compliance with licensing agreements due to export control legislation passed recently. You must work with the ITS Software Program Office (See http://cs.its.uiowa.edu/software). They will coordinate licensing, and communicate with the appropriate people in the General Counsel's Office.
- Backups. Make regular backups of files stored locally on your system drive. You must comply with the University Backup Policy, found at http://cio.uiowa.edu/policy/policy-backup-recovery.shtml. The easiest way to comply with this is to store all of your work on a departmental file server.
- Support. Diagnose hardware compatibility issues and recover from hardware failures, including data recovery.
- Monitor. Regularly check (monitor) your system and ensure it is appropriately secured, so that it does not become compromised. (You are responsible to reload the machine should it become compromised, including coordination with the IT Security Office (See http://cio.uiowa.edu/itsecurity) on port re-enablement.) This involves regularly reviewing your system log files (syslog or windows event log) for unusual activity or connections. Remember, there is no firewall protecting the entire University network. All systems are accessible from the Internet via their TCP/IP communication ports unless they are individually firewalled.
- Networking. Configure the networking including name resolution (DNS), and the default route.
- E-Mail. Optionally configure your e-mail client. Create/maintain print queues.
- Users. Create and maintain all user accounts for the system.