What are the rules for connecting my personal computer to the network?

Table of Contents

Safety
Recovery

This document is an overview of your individual responsibilities when you use your connect your personal computer equipment to the EML network. These procedures are necessary in order to ensure that our users and the campus community have a secure network environment. Most of the procedures described below are addressed to users running under a Windows operating system.

The EML is not responsible for the integrity or security of personal computer equipment that is connected to the EML network. It is the responsibility of the user to fix any problems associated with his or her personal computer equipment. The EML will attempt to answer questions to the best of our ability. Additional information regarding Campus IT policies can be found at http://technology.berkeley.edu/policy/.

Safety

Before you can establish either a network connection with your personal computer, the following must be done:

  1. Install the latest security and critical patches on the computer.

    Both the Windows and Mac operating systems provide users with a mechanism to automatically update their system with current patches. Windows users can click the Windows Update or Microsoft Update buttons under the Start Menu, and Mac users can click the Software Update in the System Preferences program.

    Patches can be manually downloaded from:

  2. Users running Windows or Mac operating systems must have an active subscription to an anti-virus service such as Norton Anti-virus (available at http://software.berkeley.edu) and have the latest anti-virus updates installed.

    Recommendations:

    • The anti-virus software should be configured to perform automatic updates and to scan upon booting and to scan all incoming documents.

    • If your computer has firewall software installed, turn-on the firewall software to block all services except Incoming Echo (ICMP ping). Some platforms, such as Windows XP and Windows 7, has firewall software installed.

    • If you are running under a Windows operating system, it is recommended that you switch to a more secure computing environment, such as Linux or Mac OS X.

    • Perform frequent back-ups of your data (at least once a week).

  3. You must set an administrator password on your machine. Log in to your computer with the administrator or root account and see if the password is what you think it is.

  4. Users are not permitted to connect any other equipment (such as a switch or a hub) to the EML network and should never disconnect or move any cable connected to the network panels located in the rooms.

Recovery

In the event of a compromise that impacts the security of other computers (such as your computer being used to launch attacks on other computers):

  • Your account will be immediately blocked. We will attempt to notify you by phone or alternate email address.

  • You will not be allowed to connect to the EML network until the infected software has been removed. Contact the EML to have your account reactivated after you have verified that the infected software has been removed and that you have installed the latest patches and anti-virus software.

The campus' computer store, TSW provides a for-fee service to restore or update a computer, including data recovery.