U.S. Navy develops acceptable-use policy for IT equipment

Computerworld - The U.S. Navy is developing a policy on the acceptable use of IT for its approximately 900,000 military, contractor and civilian users to ensure that all users operate under consistent rules.
The policy, which is still being created, is expected to go into effect in the first quarter of next year. It will affect users of all types of Navy IT devices, including computers, handhelds, cell phones and fax machines.
"We want to make sure that the guidance is consistent across all departments," said Robert J. Carey, the Navy's deputy CIO for policy and integration. "We are almost a 1 million-person department. Rules have to be applied consistently. It's time to implement an overarching umbrella."
Carey said that by bringing consistency to IT use rules, all users will know what they can and can't do with Navy IT systems. The Navy user pool also includes the U.S. Marine Corps, contractor employees and civilian workers, and they all will be affected by the changes, he said.
The umbrella policy is being adopted to ensure that all departments have the same understanding of what constitutes acceptable use and to do away with individual policies that may all vary slightly. "It was not meant or aimed to stamp out any bad behavior that had cropped up," Carey said. Other military branches have similar policies, he said.
Carey said the policy will be similar to those of most businesses as far as what it allows and doesn't allow people to do with their employer's equipment. "It's not your PC," he said. "You're just using it."
Personal use of Navy equipment is good for morale, and it's reasonable to allow people to use Navy computers for non-work-related purposes, as long as abuses are curbed, he said.
Acceptable use of Navy IT equipment includes allowing employees to surf the Internet or shop online during their breaks, as long as they don't hog large amounts of bandwidth and thereby slow or harm Navy operations, Carey said. Personal e-mail use is also acceptable, as are related online activities.
Military personnel serving around the world are allowed broad use of Navy equipment, Carey said. "We would never tell a deployed sailor that he couldn't go onto his Yahoo account and send e-mail back home," he said.
The new policies will affect users of the Navy's two networks -- the high-security Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet) and the Non-Classified Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNet). Most of the Internet access by Navy personnel is via the NIPRNet.
The regulations willcover the use of PCs, laptops, cell phones, PDAs, fax machines and other devices, Carey said. "This is not just the PC on your desk," he said. "It's the entire suite of IT systems in the department."

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