Information Technology Advisory Committee (ITAC)

2 - 3:30 pm - I.G. Greer Room 224

1. Welcome and announcements
2. Discussion of January 18 meeting
3. Use of State resources
4. Security Discussion
5. Other information items
6. Other Business

2 - 3:30 pm - I.G. Greer Room 224

Persons Present:

Ex officio members: Doug May (ACS), Margaret Yaukey (Faculty Senate)

Voting members: Tom Leonard(Advancement, for Teresa Canton), Ray Pittman (Business Affairs, for Clayton Cooke), Beth Davison (Arts & Sciences), Al Harris (College of Business), Bryan Estel (Belk Library, for Lynne Lysiak), Ed Pekarek (Arts & Sciences), Michael Bennett (College of Education, for Dick Riedl ), Peter Wachs (Student Development), Wilber Ward (Academic Affairs)

Guests Attending: David Hayler and Oscar Knight (ITS, Network Services),Tom Van Gilder (Arts & Sciences), Terry Combs (ITS, Systems Services), Steve Breiner (ITS, Instructional Computing Services)

1) Welcome and Announcements

The meeting was called to order and the membership greeted by Doug May at 2:05 PM. May informaed the group that he would be chairing the meeting in stead of Jeff Williams , who was out of town.

2) Discussion of January 18 Meeting

No comments were offered reference the minutes of the January 18 meeting and, there being no quorum of the voting membership present, no action was taken on approval of same.

3) Use of State Resources

Doug May mentioned a recent memorandum cautioning A ppalachian employees to assure that all uses of state-owned or state-funded resources should be used exclusively for purposes legitimately related to operation of the university. Bill Ward said that the state’s recent budget situation has led to increasing scrutiny of the uses of university property and services and that it would be prudent to expect more stringent accountability requirements for business services, up to and including use of the business environment (i.e., pre mises) itself. Ward emphasized that the message being disseminated was simply a reminder of accountability rather than any from of accusation or assumption of misuse– that the Appalachian community should seek to ensure that there was not even the appearance of misuse of state resources. Yaukey asked whether telephone usage related to creative or scolarly pursuits would be subject to restrictions. Ward replied that scholarly and creative pursuits  on the parts of un iversity personnel were, indeed, considered legitimate uses of services, as they have always been.

4) Security Discussion

May reported that there has been an apparent increase in the number of security attacks mounted against camous machines. He stated that th IT community at Appalachian would be wise to “keep our heads up” about such matters. In line with the apparent increase, he anticipate d that the NC IT Auditors would be requiring Appalachian to enact more stringent security standards in the near future. David Hayler and Oscar Knight presented a brief discussion of recent changes in Appalachian’s network structure, largely implemented in order to realize the on-campus residential network (RESNET). Hayler beban by recounting that the need to enable a RESNET led to the corresponding need to segment the Appalachian network into a series of router-controlled vLANs (virtual LANs) to cope with pressures on our IP address space and for general network security. Currently, he stated, there are few restrictions on local network traffic, but that we are positioned to enable any network restrictions that might be required to assure a secure network environment. Knigh summarized the current campus network infrastructure, pointing to the two routers  (1 between the “outside” and “campus” networks and one protecting the Campus Pipeline server) that hold guard over our infrastructure. He reiterated that the state IT auditors would likely require us to tighten our existing networking policies. Hayler then described the current IP registration system, that he stated was necessary in order to enable a firm association between each IP address (i.e., connected machine) and a specific, responsible Appalachian person. He mentioned that consideration of the need to reregister machines on a regular b asis was under review, but that disruption might be minimized through the development of an automated system that would reregister a system proactively, i.e., before a machine loses its connection to the network. He further indicated that plans to implement a wireless vLAN in the Student Center was being considered as a pilot project to test the efficacy and security of such a system. In using such services, users would need to take into account that, to date, wireless ne tworking cannot currently be considered to be a secure method of communication. Tom Van Gilder asked about the availability of temporary “guest registrations” on the network, to which Hayler replied that the current “uguest” registration system (with the “password of the day”) would remain in place, thereby allowing computing consultants to register machines for visiting personnel. The network access automatically expires at 3:00 AM on the day following registration, afte r which the machine must be reregistered by a consultant. The daily passwords are available via either the consultant’s tool page at https://netreg.appstate.edu/ or through the technical support hotline at 828-262-6266.

5) Other Information Items

May informed the group that, since implementation of the Pharos print control system, printing waste had been reduced to nearly zero. He requested that ITAC members survey their constituencies to find if there are any substantive problems with the system, and to let him know directly if any were noted.

6) Other Business

Ed Pekarek brought up the issue of physical security as an important consideration in need of further discussion on campus. He noted that two digital projectors, worth roughly $10,000 , had been stolen from classrooms in the Chemistry, Astronoty, Physics and Computer Science (CAP) building and that the involved departments had essentially been told that the university “self insurance” would not cover their replacement. He mentioned also that unknown presons apparently had been able to effect entry into locked faculty offices. Residents of the CAP building have taken measures to more adequately secure equipped classrooms, but that such measures were difficult, if not impossible, to adminis ter. He suggested that the university look into the possiblilities for acquiring sensor technology to secure access too equipment and classrooms, monitoring equipment for assuring only authorized access to such venues. Bill Ward suggested that the Business Affairs division was the appropriate campus agency to address problems related to policing and security.

7) Adjournment

There being no fur ther business, May announced that the next ITAC meeting would occur on March 8, 2002, the second Friday in March. The meeting adjourned at 3:11 PM.