Ohio University

Joint message from FTAG chair and CIO about Network Registration

Tuesday, February 28, 2012
  

Below is the text of a joint announcement about Network Registration that Phyllis Bernt and Brice Bible sent to the university community on February 28, 2012. Bible is the university's Chief Information Officer. Bernt, Professor and Graduate Program Director for the J. Warren McClure School of Information and Telecommunication Systems, currently chairs the Faculty Technology Advisory Group (FTAG).

Colleagues,

We want to make you aware of a pending network registration requirement OIT is currently discussing with the Faculty Technology Advisory Group (FTAG). This promises to be a fairly minor change to the way the network operates, but it is a change, nonetheless. Please take a moment to review what this project includes, what it does not include, and the reasons why it is necessary for the university to implement it.

The proposed network registration will require every device on the university's network to associate its unique serial number (called a MAC address) with a valid student, faculty, staff, or sponsored guest OHIO ID. The registration process will include a non-invasive check for critical security vulnerabilities like viruses and un-patched security holes. If any vulnerabilities are found, the person registering the device will get an immediate notification and will have an opportunity to fix the problem.

Network registration does not store any personal information, it does not track user behavior or allow OIT to see the contents of devices, and it does not provide any “back door” access to registered devices. It simply records which devices belong to which person.

OIT has proposed this requirement for two main reasons:

1. It will bring the university into full compliance with Federal law.
2. Past assessments of university IT practices have identified open access to our network as a security risk.

Network registration has not been implemented yet and will be discussed in greater detail with Faculty Senate and other constituent groups this spring. In the meantime, the Access Subcommittee of FTAG is advising OIT on the development of this project.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the Office of the CIO at cio@ohio.edu or 740-566-8246.

Best regards,
Brice and Phyllis
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J. Brice Bible
Chief Information Officer
Office of Information Technology

Phyllis Bernt
Professor and Graduate Program Director
J. Warren McClure School of Information and Telecommunication Systems
Chair, Faculty Technology Advisory Group