Our commitment to you.
As a general rule, Information Technology (IT) staff will not come and take your computer, especially without you knowing. There are a few situations where IT may have to take your computer, but we will make every effort to inform you about the situation, recover your data if possible, and provide you with at least a Standard Business Model computer to continue to do your work on. On the point of recovering your data, IT may not always be able to return your data to you depending on the type of security incident, so pre-plan and set up a backup strategy or use cloud storage.
When will IT take a computer?
IT will take a computer if:
- There is a violation of the Acceptable Usage Policy. The acceptable usage policy can be found here: https://www.umsystem.edu/ums/rules/collected_rules/facilities/ch110/110.005_acceptable_use_policy
- Examples of such would be:
- Attempts to disable campus security monitoring or management of campus managed computers.
- Use of pirated software.
- There is a security incident, significant threat to campus security, or impact to campus that cannot be addressed without removal.
Examples of such would be:- The computer has been compromised by a malicious actor or IT security has discovered indicators of compromise that indicate the presence of malware.
- The computer is found to be out of date on their updates for longer than two months and attempts to contact the computer user about remediation have gone unanswered.
- The computer is part of the S&T IT Computer Lifecycle Replacement (CLR) program and the manufacturer warranty expired. S&T IT staff will work with the computer user to schedule the replacement of the computer as part of the CLR. At the time the replacement is delivered S&T IT staff assist with transfer of the data and take the old computer for delivery to surplus.
- If after every attempt is made to contact the computers owner, a computer is believed to be abandoned and still on the campus network.
and
- After we have made a reasonable attempt to contact the customer. IT will make every effort to communicate that a computer will be removed before taking it. They will also make an effort to provide a suitable alternative until a replacement can be procured.
What is a reasonable attempt to communicate with computer owners?
When we do come to get it, unless it is part of a cyber security incident that requires immediate action, we will make the following efforts to communicate with you…
- Email you through ticket system
- Notify you the computer is being blocked from the network.
- Email you directly but copied to ticketing system that the computer will be removed
- One week to 10 days after previous attempt (exception for over summer)
- Email Department Chair and Department Admin Assistant directly copied to ticket system that there was no response and the computer will be removed.
- One week after no response from previous attempts
- Get Manager of IT involved
- Notify that there is no response.
- Contact by phone if email does not work with journal notes in the ticket system
- One week after no response
- We will schedule the removal of the computer or set a time if no response is given
- Include Department Chair and Department Admin Assistant in the invite
- One week after no response
In the case of cyber security incidents we may have to act first then contact you.
In the case of cyber security incidents that require immediate action:
- The system will be blocked immediately, and direct communication will be attempted through email and/or a campus listed phone number.
IT will not take the computer, but may isolate it if:
- It is a departmental computer or student computer, out of warranty and vulnerable to security threats.
- In this case IT will work with you to make sure the computer is protected and may extend the use of the computer if a replacement computer is ordered. A thin client option will be offered for computers not funded under the Computer Lifecycle Replacement (CLR) program and/or until a new computer can be purchased. Computers not funded under the CLR program will include (computers for people with soft funded positions, departmentally purchased computers, computers for part-time employees, or computers for graduate students)
- It is being used remotely and falls into one of the three criteria for being taken.
If your computer does not fall into one of these criteria, you can safely assume we will not take it.
In the case of complying with Law Enforcement
In case of complying with law enforcement, IT isn’t the one taking the computer. IT may be present in support of law enforcement, but are not the ones initiating or taking the computer.