Firewall/Access Control List Policy

Version 1.5

For Students, Faculty, Staff, Guests, Alumni

Purpose

This policy ensures that the University's IT Resources are properly protected behind firewalls or other network devices that utilize access control lists (ACLs).

Scope

This IT policy, and all policies referenced herein, shall apply to all members of the University community, including faculty, students, administrators, staff, alumni, authorized guests, delegates, and independent contractors (the "User(s)" or "you") who use, access, or otherwise employ, locally or remotely, the University’s IT Resources, whether individually controlled, shared, stand-alone, or networked.

Policy Statement

  • Users who can grant access to restricted network devices, including but not limited to routers, switches, and firewalls, must abide by the rules in this policy.
  • Users must verify that firewalls, switches, and router configurations, including access control, are reviewed and examined semi-annually.
  • All IT Resources that allow access to data, systems, and networks must contain a default "deny all" inbound access rule.
  • All IT Resources on high-risk networks, such as the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) and DMZ (demilitarized zone) networks, must also contain a "deny all" rule on outbound traffic.
  • IT Resources on the PCI networks must be secured from public access.
  • Users must request firewall or ACL changes via the University’s ticketing system from the IT Internal Service Catalog.
    • Information Security and Assurance (ISA) must approve change requests.
    • ISA must explicitly authorize outbound traffic from PCI networks.

Definitions

DMZ is a physical or logical subnetwork that contains and exposes an organization's external-facing services to an untrusted network, usually a larger network such as the Internet.

IT Resources include computing, networking, communications, application, telecommunications systems, infrastructure, hardware, software, data, databases, personnel, procedures, physical facilities, cloud-based vendors, Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors, and related materials and services.

Related Policies and Procedures

Implementation Information

Review Frequency: Annual
Responsible Person: Senior Director of IT Security and Assurance 
Approved By: CISO
Approval Date: March 1, 2017

Revision History

Version:
Date:
Description:
1.0
01/26/2017
Initial policy
1.0.1
03/01/2017
Grammatical changes to definitions. No changes to the policy
1.0.2
05/23/2018
Updated disclaimer, scope, and definitions
1.0.3
01/04/2019
Updated links
1.1
06/09/2020 
Updated policy statement and definitions
1.2 07/26/2021 Updated purpose and policy statements
1.3 08/01/2022 Updated policy statement
1.4 09/21/20123 Updated purpose, policy statement, scope, and disclaimer statement
1.5 10/10/2024 Updated policy statement

Policy Disclaimer Statement

Deviations from policies, procedures, or guidelines published and approved by Information Security and Assurance (ISA) will only be considered cooperatively between ISA and the requesting entity with sufficient notice to allow for conducting appropriate risk analysis, documentation, review, and notification to authorized University representatives where necessary. Failure to adhere to ISA written policies may be met with University sanctions up to and including dismissal.

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