What is happening?
On January 12th and 13th the campus border firewall is being changed to DENY by default to Internet traffic that is inbound to the campus network. Firewalls are designed to protect networks from outside threats, and our border firewall is being adjusted to meet that goal.
Why is this happening?
Our current firewall posture leaves the campus network and devices exposed to the Internet in ways that were once considered acceptable, but is now very risky given the rise of Internet connected devices. This adjustment will ensure devices connected to the campus network are not exposed to unnecessary or potentially harmful Internet traffic.
What does it mean for me?
For a vast majority of the community, there is nothing to be done and you can rest assured you will be safer once these changes are in place. For some however, it will mean that devices that once worked while you were off campus will now require the VPN to access. For information on what the VPN is or how to use it, see the articles under the "Related Articles" section on the right. If you believe you have a service that would require IT to open the border firewall for it to work the way you require, please fill out a Firewall Exception Request.