Remote Access

Administrative Procedure 7.105

Purpose

The purpose of this procedure is to define standards, and restrictions for connecting to Elgin Community College’s internal network(s) from external hosts via remote access technology, and/or for utilizing the Internet for official College business via third-party wireless Internet service providers, publicly accessible wireless access points and third-party wireless broadband cards.  Elgin Community College’s resources (i.e., College data, computer systems, networks, databases, etc.) must be protected from unauthorized use and/or malicious attack that could result in loss of information, damage to critical applications, loss of revenue, and damage to our public image. Therefore, all remote access connections and mobile privileges for Elgin Community College employees, contractors, vendors, freelancers, students and other agents who utilize devices to remotely access the College’s resources – and for wireless Internet access via hotspots – must employ only the College’s approved methods.

Scope

This Administrative Procedure applies to all Elgin Community College employees, including full-time, part-time, and temporary faculty and staff, contractors, vendors, freelancers, students, and other agents who utilize devices to remotely access the College’s data and networks. For VPN remote connections, only ECC issued devices are allowed.

Employment at Elgin Community College does not automatically guarantee the granting of remote access privileges.

Any and all work performed for Elgin Community College on said computers by any and all employees, through a remote access connection of any kind, is covered by this Administrative Procedure.  Remote access is defined as any connection to Elgin Community College’s network and/or other applications from off-site locations, such as the employee’s home, a hotel room, airports, cafés, satellite offices, wireless devices, etc.

Remote Access Management

All remote access will be centrally managed by Elgin Community College’s IT department and will utilize encryption and strong authentication measures.

Eligible Users

All employees requiring the use of remote access for business purposes must read and agree to this Administrative Procedure.  Application forms must be approved and signed by the employee’s unit manager, supervisor, or department head before submission to the IT department.

Employees may use privately owned connections for business purposes.  If this is the case, any personal wireless connections must be secure and protected. The College’s IT department cannot and will not technically support any privately owned hardware or software or any third-party ISP connection or any wireless ISP connection.

Appropriate Use

In regard to remote access, College information taken outside the campus both physically and electronically is the user’s responsibility. ECC’s electronic campus consists of any virtual space external to ECC’s publicly facing gateways. It is imperative that any remote access connection used to conduct Elgin Community College business be utilized appropriately, responsibly, and ethically. Therefore, the following rules must be observed:

  1. Personal information related to Elgin Community College employees, students, contracts and/or other information not appropriate for general disclosure may be accessed during a remote connection.  It is imperative that this information remain private and therefore should only be saved to locations on Elgin Community College’s internal network (e.g. your personal network directory or a department share).  

  2. Secure remote access procedures will be enforced through public/private key encrypted strong passwords in accordance with Elgin Community College’s password Administrative Procedure. Employees agree to never disclose their passwords to anyone, particularly to family members if College business is performed from home.
  3. The “remember password” option must never be used when establishing any remote connection to Elgin Community College’s internal network regardless of method.
  4. Remote access devices will have anti-virus software and anti-malware software installed and configured to download updates regularly and must employ for their devices a College-approved personal firewall.
  5. Devices connected to the College’s network must never be left unattended. You are responsible for any activity associated with your credentials.
  6. Modifications to the remote access connection are prohibited.
  7. Users of College-owned equipment are responsible for notifying their manager and Elgin Community College’s IT department immediately if their equipment is lost or stolen.
  8. The remote access user agrees to immediately report to their manager and Elgin Community College’s IT department any incident or suspected incident of unauthorized access and/or disclosure of College resources, databases, networks, etc.
  9. An authorized remote access user may access the Internet through Elgin Community College’s network; however, the Client must not violate any of Elgin Community College’s Internet acceptable use policies. Activity such as illegal transactions, harassment, competitor interests, or obscene behavior must not be performed through College networks via remote connections.
  10. The remote access user also agrees to and accepts that his or her access and/or connection to Elgin Community College’s networks may be monitored to record dates, times, duration of access, etc., in order to identify unusual usage patterns or other suspicious activity.  As with in-house computers, this is done in order to identify accounts/computers that external parties may have compromised.
  11. Remote access users must authenticate their connections by using a smart phone and push notifications using the Duo mobile application (available for Android and iOS).

Remote Access Best Practices

Again, it is the Client’s responsibility to protect College information taken outside of the campus whether it is physically or electronically. ECC’s electronic campus consists of any virtual space external to ECC’s publicly facing gateways. Below are additional actions that may be taken to assist in protecting this information.

  1. Remote users utilizing wireless connections (wireless routers, wireless access points, etc.) in the home should employ a secure connection to these devices.  Consider changing the default administrator username and password, enabling encryption, and enabling MAC address filtering.
  2. Hotspot and remote users should disconnect wireless cards when not in use in order to mitigate attacks by hackers, war drivers, and eavesdroppers. 
  3. In order to avoid confusing official College business with personal communications, employees, contractors, and temporary staff with remote access privileges should not use non-College email accounts (e.g., Hotmail, Yahoo, etc.) to conduct Elgin Community College business.
  4. Use appropriate safeguards to protect this connection from physical access by locking your device before getting up. You are responsible for any activity associated with your credentials.  

Enforcement

Failure to comply with the Remote Access Administrative Procedure may result in the suspension of remote access privileges, disciplinary action, or termination of employment.

Submission of Agreement

Please fill out the “Remote Access Request Form” and return it to:

Elgin Community College  

Technology Support Services Helpdesk

1700 Spartan Drive

Elgin, IL 60123

This policy was last reviewed on 08/31/2023.

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