Firewall/Access Control List Policy
Version 1.6
For Students, Faculty, Staff, Guests, Alumni
Purpose
This policy ensures that the University's IT Resources are properly protected behind firewalls or access control lists (ACLs).
Scope
This IT security 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
- System Administrators 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.
- System Administrators must verify that firewalls, switches, and router configurations, including access controls, are reviewed and examined regularly.
- All IT Resources that allow access to data, systems, and networks must contain a default "deny all" inbound access rule.
- Fordham-owned and managed IT Resources on high-risk networks, such as the PCI and DMZ (demilitarized zone) networks, must also contain a "deny all" rule on outbound traffic.
- 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 all 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, applications, 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
- Account Access Change Control Policy
- Password Management Policy
- PCI Hardware Maintenance
- PCI Network Protocol
- PCI Security Testing
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 |
| 1.6 | 10/24/2025 | Updated the purpose and policy statements |
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.