University improves safety in SLC labs

KELLY WEGEL

SLC computers have been equipped with a new logout system that will lock out if left unattended.

The University has been cracking down to create a more secure network, especially regarding Internet and e-mail use.

As part of the change, the labs on the third and fourth floors of the Student Learning Center were upgraded during Spring Break to facilitate a higher level of electronic security and a more feasible upgrading process.

Technicians sought to fix some problems with the old software, such as difficulty in making updates and an outdated security system.

With the new installations in place, the computers can update their Windows software each night and facilitate a more secure electronic environment.

Along with the credo “Designing a Learning Environment for the Student of the 21st Century,” the aim of the Enterprise Information Technology Services and the SLC in regard to the computer labs is to facilitate “seamless user use,” said Charles Leggett, the System Administrator for EITS labs.

The new system utilizes a screen-lock whenever a student leaves the workstation for more than five minutes. The student can return to the station within 15 minutes, provide their password and return to their work. If the student does not return within 15 minutes, the computer logs the student off, Leggett said.

Also, as part of the enhanced security programming, the computers now alert the user when a Web site may be downloading files without the user’s consent. However, the user can opt to turn these pop-ups off.

Legget said he did not want to make the choice to turn off all the students’ alerts but would rather “let the students choose for themselves.”

Although many of the problems with the computers in the SLC have been worked out, a few of them persist.

Students such as Giray Sadik, an international affairs graduate student from Turkey, have experienced a blacked-out screen for a few seconds before the screen goes back to normal.

“I’d rather not have it,” Sadik said.

But, according to Legget, neither EITS nor Dell can pin down the problem.

“It’s an ongoing process,” Leggett said.