ITD Firewall Policy
What Does It Mean If Your Computer Is "Vulnerable"?
Having an unprotected network allows hackers to do one or all of the following:
- Computer Vandalism:
- Hackers may perform mischievous activities such as deleting files up to and including reformatting your hard drive(s).
- Theft of Personal Information:
- Personal information on your computer (such as your social security number, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, etc.) may be stolen for purposes of identity theft or use of your credit cards to make unauthorized purchases on the Internet.
- Launch Point for Attacks on Other Computers:
- Hackers are always looking for vulnerable computers from which to stage attacks on other systems. This may be anything from Denial of Service Attacks (DoS) (which bombard well-known Internet sites with so many requests that it slows down the system to unusable) to actual penetrations of bank and/or government computers. What this means is that it looks like the attack is coming from your computer, and you may be held liable!
How to acquire a firewall that will secure your network and ensure current services be delivered.
In response to this ITD has put together a firewall protection plan between schools. This is in addition to the firewall from the internet that is already in place. ITD's plan will offer schools a quality firewall option that will comply technically with ITD's standards. These standards include h.323, Active Directory, DNS/DHCP and QOS. In addition to the technical standards it also offers K-12 schools a very affordable firewall that they do not have to support or maintain as ITD will do this for the schools. This will effect all K-12 schools connected to the state network.
Any school that wants to firewall themselves from the rest of the K-12 Network needs to have their technology coordinator contact the EduTech Helpdesk at 1-800-774-1091. EduTech will work with the school's technology coordinator to access the school's firewall needs and fill in the form to apply for the firewall service. ITD will then inform the school of pricing and technical details of the firewall installation.
ITD will support firewalls installed by ITD. Any other firewall or proxy purchased prior to August 15th 2002 will be supported on the K-12 network for a consulting fee of $55/hr. However, after that date K-12 schools will only be allowed to install a firewall from ITD.
After the firewall is implemented, the school will need to call the EduTech Helpdesk again to submit a firewall request for all changes that need to be made to the firewall. Only the school's technology coordinator may request firewall changes, adds, or deletions. Please take into consideration the lead time needed when requesting firewall changes or plans for network/pc changes that may need firewall changes. Mission critical firewall changes can be made without prior approval of the school (i.e. the network is under attack). Non mission critical changes will be made after being scheduled with the school's tech coordinator.
Fees for an ITD individual school firewall is as follows:
- One Time Installation Fee: $2000
Please keep in mind that the K-12 Network already has a firewall in place to protect it from the Internet.
Last updated on February 8, 2011