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Policy for shared admin computer

This alternative solution is only available for Researchers and Teachers.

This version is developed to offer access to central services and at the same time have a possibility to give a user with special requirements local administrative rights if that is necessary to work. This version is directed to researchers/teachers who needs to test a lot of software associated with the research/education.

Background

For security reasons, your user account normally has no administrative rights on your computer. Because you have special needs, we have now activated your account, so you can elevate your rights. This works only on this computer and should only be used for specific purposes, such as installation or configuration of special applications.

Through that you will receive an account that has local administration rights in such an open environment such KTH, we advise you certain rules that are important to follow to keep computer systems and your data as safe as possible.

This document is based on the policy for self-administrated computers at KTH, located under the following link: Policy for Self-Administered Computer Systems

Some important points you should be aware of:

  • It will take work hours for you to keep the system up-to-date
  • The computer should always be updated to avoid security holes
  • Your computer can be shut down for the investigation of infringements or similar incidents

Things you for security reasons are NOT allowed to do:

  • Turning off the firewall of the operating system
  • Edit/change firewall rules that are managed centrally
  • Uninstall the antivirus software that came with your computer
  • Uninstall applications that are managed centrally
  • Installing 3rd party firewall applications
  • Installing 3rd party antivirus software
  • Installing 3rd party applications for remote administration
  • Installing 3rd party software for hard drive encryption
  • Enable Window's built-in encryption of the hard disk (BitLocker)
  • Change the computer's BIOS settings

If any of the above points restricts you in your work, you are welcome to talk to us. In this way we can better understand your needs and can either adapt our systems or discuss a solution that meets both your personal needs and the level of security we are obliged to supply for computer systems at KTH.

Things you should be aware of with your computer with shared administration:

Updates for the operating system

You are responsible that updates for the operating system and centrally installed applications can be installed properly, and restart the computer if this is required for the update to succeed.

Procedures for installing software

  • Check if the program is available under the following link, Install software
  • If the program is not available, you can order an installation by using this form, Order Software
  • If the application should be available on multiple computers, such as computer lab rooms or on several computers at your department, you can order the software by submitting the same form as above, Order Software .

Procedures for self-installed program

  • You are responsible for errors that might arise with applications that you install yourself without consulting KTH IT-Support beforehand
  • You are responsible for keeping the applications you installed up-to-date in order to avoid security holes that can compromise the operating system
  • In need of assistance, please read the Support section below.

Licenses

All software that you install yourself must have a valid license. Software delivered as shareware must follow the vendor's license terms. The responsibility for license management for your own programs rests with you.

Support

A shared administrated computer has limited support. Troubleshooting will only happen as the logged-on user and for a limited time. If the problem cannot be solved, we will offer a reinstallation of your computer. You are responsible for moving data.

Backup

In the first place you should put your files either in your home directory or project area where automatically backup will be taken. The backup is saved for 90 days.

If you have a laptop that needs backup, please contact our support it-support@kth.se  (or your local system group) for an appropriate solution.

Exposure of the computer

If you need to install applications that can make the computer public on the internet, especially if there are services to login for other users, we prefer that you report this to it-support@kth.se  (or your local system group) and KTH Incident Response Team (IRT), irt@kth.se . In this way, we can offer advice if there is an application with known security holes or configuration details which you should consider for safety reasons. It will also help us to catch up on needs that might be provided centrally. Examples of such applications are e.g. databases, web servers, web applications, etc.

Application for shared admin 

You apply for shared admin via Edge portal , under the tab "IT-Ser­vices for em­ploy­ees".