Streaming video on government PC a no-no         Susanne Kappler    Leader Staff

Anticipation is building for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing starting Aug. 8, but because of the 12-hour time difference, many high-profile events will happen while Americans are at work. Some sports fans may be tempted to follow the games on their work computers, but that is not an option for Fort Jackson computer users. Army computers are blocked from showing streaming video because of bandwidth limitations, said Troy Wahr, Information Assurance specialist with the Directorate of Information Management. “There’s only so much bandwidth allocated. If we use it up with streaming video and streaming audio, then legitimate traffic is hindered,” he said. Aside from legitimate sites offering streaming video, Wahr advises users to beware of rogue sites that may be found through search engines or through links inserted in e-mails. “The Chinese government is very active in trying to gather information. And with the Olympics being in China this year, you may receive links to sites,” he said. “Don’t click on them on a government computer. If you want to look at that stuff, look at it at home, forward it to your home account.” Wahr said that another security concern is links with foreign country extensions. Both of these types of links often contain malicious software, which tries to gain access to information on the computer and thus compromises the security of government information, Wahr explained. “When (malicious software) is detected, your computer will have to be seized,” he said. It’ll be scanned for evidence to see if anything was taken and it’ll have to be reimaged. So there’s a large inconvenience to the user if (his or her) system is identified. I’ve seen one (machine) gone for a month.” User inconvenience is not the only consequence, though. Users could be held responsible for the security risk they created by allowing malicious software onto a government computer. “If it was found that you caused it and it was intentional, there are ramifications for that, too,” he said. Wahr also warned against using technology to circumvent the blocks the Army puts on certain Web sites, like “Myspace,” “You Tube” and other sites with streaming video. “If a user uses a circumventing site ... he opens that computer up to keylogging,” he said. “Everything that you type in while you’re on that circumventing site is being logged. People don’t set those sites up just for your convenience. There’s a purpose behind it, and the purpose may be malicious to our intent.” Information assurance technicians at DOIM scan the logs each morning to make sure government computers are used properly and circumventing sites are not visited. “We’ve caught multiple users in the last month or so,” Wahr said. Users found in violation of Army policies are reported to their chain of command and are subject to disciplinary action.