DRAFT: Rice’s Internet Firewall

Tentative Enhancements to Student Network

Information Technology is exploring some changes to the firewall between the Internet and the Rice network. This firewall would continue to let users access the Internet from on-campus computers, but prevent people or systems on the Internet from attacking, compromising, or obtaining unauthorized access to Rice computers. This is a very necessary step toward improving the information security of the University. The firewall will increase protection to your computer and the data on it.

After the firewall has been enhanced, these types of inbound Internet access will no longer be permitted for desktop or laptop computers on the Student network:

• Internet serving services (e.g. Web and FTP servers)
• Remote access directly from the Internet (e.g. Remote Desktop, PCAnywhere, Timbuktu). Users employing the Rice VPN will still be able to reach their on-campus computers.
• Files being served to the Internet using peer-to-peer programs (e.g. BitTorent and Kazaa) might not be accessible to off-campus users.

Accessing public Rice systems such as Webmail (webmail.rice.edu), Rice University web pages (e.g. http://www.rice.edu, http://www.owlnet.rice.edu, http://owlspace.rice.edu, and http://my.rice.edu) will not be affected by this change.

Those interested in the history and rationale behind these firewall changes may find the Background information that follows to be useful. Additionally, there is a Frequently Asked Questions section to address some issues that have already been raised.

Information Technology has worked with representatives from the community to better understand the types of applications that will not work with the firewall and we have tried to provide secure solutions for the known applications. If you need assistance or have questions regarding any of your applications during or after this change, please contact the IT Help Desk, 713.348.HELP(4357) or helpdesk@rice.edu.