UC Irvine Student Housing - Staff Handbook

Student housing staff Handbook

Student Housing Computer Use Guidelines

Updated - September 2005

The following computer use guidelines are for the Student Housing Department at the University California Irvine. Computer systems are to be used for business purposes in serving the interests of the department, and of our clients and customers in the course of normal operations. Effective security is a team effort involving the participation and support of every Housing employee and student affiliate who deals with information and/or information systems. It is the responsibility of every computer user to know these guidelines, and to conduct their activities accordingly.

The purpose of this policy is to outline the acceptable use of computer equipment for the Student Housing Department. These rules are in place to protect the employee, student staff, the department, and the university. Inappropriate use exposes Housing to risks including virus attacks, compromise of network systems and services, and legal issues.

The following are NOT permitted and are considered unacceptable computer use:

Downloading of Music, Screen Savers, Pictures /Wallpapers, Movies,

any Audio files, Games, additional/special cursors, etc.

Playing Internet radio or Internet music files. Internet radio can contain Spyware.
Playing Internet games. Internet games can contain Viruses and/or Spyware.
Installing any additional toolbars on your Internet Explorer such as; Yahoo, AOL, MSN, etc. Toolbars can contain Spyware.
Installing any third party software off the internet, such as Weather Bug, Bonzi Buddy, and Precision Time. These programs can contain Spyware.

Installing any software from your home, such as Turbo Tax, home decorating software, screen savers from vacations, etc.

Installing and/or running any Peer to Peer software such as Kazaa or Bit Torrent.
Installing music software such as I-Tunes or Yahoo Music.

Student Housing Staff and Student Workers:

Should not store personal / private information on UC computers. The Housing Department will not be responsible for saving or retrieving data in case a computer is compromised or malfunctions.
Should not sign up for any non business related Listservs such as EBay.com, Food.com, MyCoupons.com, FreeStuff.com, etc. Use a personal web based email account such as Yahoo, Hotmail, or AOL.
Should not open email or email attachments from anyone you do not know or that you feel there is a question about its authenticity.
Employees may not store private or confidential University information on their personal portable computer, PDA, Pen Storage Drive or similar device without the device being password protected.

Other important items:

Instant Messaging/Chat can come infected with viruses. Please be aware and cautious when using any Instant Messaging software.

Keep passwords secure and do not share accounts. Authorized users are responsible for the security of their passwords and accounts. Passwords should be changed often.
A staff personnel may not log into a system for another employee or student. Account security is configured for each individual user. By logging in for someone else you may be bypassing desired security preferences.
All PCs, laptops and workstations should be secured with a password-protected screensaver with the automatic activation feature set at 10 minutes or less, or by logging-off when the computer is unattended.
Employee must adhere to strict information controls to protect confidential data. Confidential data includes but is not limited to sensitive and student data. Information control technique includes but is not limited to safeguarding data from unauthorized or improper use, proper electronic data security and hard-copy document management, and proper disposal when data is no longer necessary. UCI is subject to state law SB1386. (See Terms)

Housing Information Technology reserves the right to audit networks and systems on periodic basis to ensure compliance with this policy.

TERMS

Spyware: ANY SOFTWARE which employs a user's Internet connection, without their knowledge or explicit permission, to collect information personally identifiable or otherwise.

Peer to Peer: On the Internet, peer-to-peer (referred to as P2P) is a type of transient Internet network that allows a group of computer users with the same networking program to connect with each other and directly access files from one another's hard drives.

SB1386: SB 1386 went into affect on July 1, 2003. Under the law, covered parties must disclose any breach of the security of personal data to any resident of California whose unencrypted personal information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by an unauthorized person.