Resources

Department IT Policy

Users of the computing and network resources within the Department of Chemistry are expected to be read, understand and abide by the policies and guidelines established by Northwestern University's central IT department. In particular, the rights and responsibilities for the central IT facilities and networks are applicable to Chemistry department resources unless specifically amended. These policies and guidelines are available from www.it.northwestern.edu/policies/. These should be reviewed periodically for changes and additions. In particular, Chemistry department personnel should familiarize themselves with the following university policies:

• Rights and Responsibilities for the Use of Central Network and Computing Resources at Northwestern University
• Use of Computers, Systems, and Networks
• Privacy within the Northwestern Network
• Information Technology Policy: Use and Copying of Computer Software

 

In addition, the Chemistry department operates a number of servers of various types to provide service to the faculty, staff and department personnel. These currently include Unix-based email and web servers and Microsoft Windows-based file servers and domain controllers. What follows are the department policies that relate specifically to these systems and the services they provide.

Accounts

New account requests must be accompanied by the corresponding signed and dated account application indicating the comprehension and acceptance of the university and department IT policies. In general, new accounts are limited to faculty and staff, exceptions may be made after review of the circumstances. Accounts are strictly limited to individual users; no group accounts will be created for any reason; users are not to give access to their account to any other persons.

Passwords and Security

Users are required to develop and use strong passwords to protect their account, the shared system resources and the general network infrastructure. Passwords must meet minimum length and complexity requirements: generally, passwords must be greater than 6 alphanumeric characters using mixed case, numerals and punctuation marks. Passwords are checked on creation to ensure that they meet the requirements. In keeping with general university policies, passwords must be changed regularly; currently the maximum password age is 120 days. Warnings to change passwords are distributed automatically. Any accounts that exceed the maximum password age are automatically locked. Locked accounts will be automatically deleted after 90 days. It is the account holders responsibility to contact the system administrators to reset passwords and unlock accounts prior to the account being deleted. Deleted accounts will not be restored; a new account application must be submitted.

Secure communication channels are required to access accounts on any of the department servers. In general, this means that users must employ SSL/TLS encrypted programs and protocols to access their accounts on the email and web servers. Typically, this means using secure shell and secure file transfer programs such as ssh/sftp and/or email client software using SSL/TLS encrypted POP or IMAP protocols. The use of the university's virtual private network (vpn) facilities are encouraged for all off-campus access. In some instances, access is only available through vpn for off-campus users. This is the case for file server and remote desktop access. In addition, all email sent through the department server requires that either the sender or the recipient address be on the northwestern.edu domain; so off-campus users must utilize vpn in order to send messages to recipients outside the university address space.

Although the best efforts are made to ensure a safe, secure and private computing environment, all users must be aware that the privacy and security of their files stored on the department file servers and their messages sent though the department email system can not be guaranteed. For this reason, no sensitive and/or protected information should be stored or sent in clear text. Examples of protected, sensitive information include but are not limited to social security numbers/tax identification numbers; credit card, bank account and other financial account numbers; student grades and other records; and medical records. Information of this type is protected by various federal and state statutes and the university has legal obligations to protect it. It is best to not store or transmit this kind of information.

Backups

Files stored on the file servers and on the email and web servers are backed up nightly (differential, only changed files) during the week - Monday through Thursday. Full backups are done once over the weekend (Fri - Sun) with different servers backed up on different weekend days. All staff are encouraged to keep all their files on the server so they will be backed up to tape. However, all users need to be aware that this is designed as a disaster recovery mechanism in case of system failures, fires or other calamities. This is not intended nor will it suffice as an archival storage system. Any critical files and or files that require long term storage should be written to CD/R and maintained locally by the user. Backup tapes are recycled over a period of approximately 4 months.

Please report any indications of suspicious activity or signs of unauthorized access to of the servers or your local system to your administrator immediately. 

Department of Chemistry