New system to improve Internet safety
The Impulse Policy Gateway is a new system that will require every computer system in GC&SU residence halls and residential areas to be registered.
The system will install a “policy key” on each machine on the network and periodically check for virus protection and Windows patches.
Chief Information Security Officer Chad McDonald is heading the project and said that the process will be simple for students.
“A student will get on their laptop, PC, Xbox or computer utility,” McDonald said. “The Impulse device will recognize that there is a new connection. They will then be asked to authenticate who they are, and then they will install a tiny piece of software on their computer. The purpose of the software is to make sure they have Windows patches and anti-virus software.”
The program will be instituted on Oct. 3 and was a result of an abundance of viruses being spread on the server.
“We have gotten a lot of complaints about viruses and worms and all of that, and it stems from not updating your software,” McDonald said. “So once you have verified that you have up-to-date software, you will go right on through.”
Director of Networks and Server Resources Charles Taylor said that the new system would benefit students around campus.
“I think this will be a good thing,” Taylor said. “I have had several emails from students asking why the server is so slow. It’s because of viruses. The more viruses that you get trying to infect other machines, the slower the network will be. This should help tremendously.”
If a student does not have any anti-virus software, the school will provide it for them. Students can go to http://patch.gcsu.edu/.
McDonald said that many students have already expressed a concern over the programs ability to monitor each individual computer.
“The program does not have the capability to (monitor),” McDonald said. “There is not enough software to (monitor). If they are looking at good sites, bad sites, it doesn’t matter. We do not monitor for what students are actually doing. We do monitor overall traffic, but never down to the specific application or even computer. We just look at the big picture.”
Another concern that some students have expressed is their ability to download music. Downloading music from a peer-to-peer service is prohibited by the data network acceptance use policy. Legal downloading of music is allowed. Only illegally downloading copyrighted music will result in any penalty.
“If we receive an abuse report from the (Recording Industry Association of America) or the (Motion Picture Association of America), then they will first file an abuse report with the Board of Regents. And then, it is sent to us, and we are obligated at that point to disconnect that computer until such time as the student comes in and (apologizes),” McDonald said.
There has never been a repeat offender on the GC&SU network.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Sep 23 2005. Filed under News.
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