Shore Communication Policy

calls. Shipboard participants may use a calling card (available for purchase onboard the ship) or credit card to pay for long-distance phone calls. Sh...
6 downloads 519 Views 429KB Size
Download PDF
Love PNG Images
Ship/Shore Communication Policy

Integrated Ocean Drilling Program U.S. Implementing Organization

Revised: October 2010

1

CONTENTS General Remarks............................................................................................................. 3 Communication Methods ............................................................................................ 3 Policy Compliance ...................................................................................................... 3 Privacy ........................................................................................................................ 3 Ethics and Appropriate Use ......................................................................................... 4 Personal Communications ............................................................................................... 4 E-mail ......................................................................................................................... 4 Telephone (Ship's telephone number) .......................................................................... 6 Emergency Personal Communications......................................................................... 6 Official Business Communications.................................................................................. 6 Distribution Classifications ......................................................................................... 6 IODP-USIO Position-specific Shipboard E-mail Accounts .......................................... 7 APPENDIX..................................................................................................................... 8

2

SHIP/SHORE COMMUNICATION POLICY GENERAL REMARKS This document outlines the U.S. Implementing Organization (USIO) policy for communications to and from the Research Vessel JOIDES Resolution.

Communication Methods E-mail, telephone, fax, video conferencing, and file transfer services are all available onboard the JOIDES Resolution. The communications systems utilized by IODP-USIO are available only to those persons who are authorized by IODP-USIO and who are engaged in business conducted in support of IODP.

Policy Compliance All USIO employees and guests who communicate between the JOIDES Resolution and shore and/or use the shipboard communication services outlined in this policy are required to follow and comply with all IODP-USIO policies regarding communication, information technology, and appropriate use, as well as the Texas A&M System policies and regulations and University rules and standard administrative procedures.1

Privacy TAMU University Rule 29.01.99.M2 (Rules for Responsible Computing, Section 3. Privacy) states The general right to privacy is extended to the electronic environment to the extent possible. Privacy is mitigated by the Texas Public Information Act, administrative review, computer system administration, and audits. Contents of electronic files will be examined or disclosed only when authorized by their owners, approved by an appropriate University official, or required by law. IODP-USIO management reserves the right to inspect any and all information that resides on government-owned computers or networks, including e-mail communications, as needed to investigate suspected illegal or inappropriate use. Users are cautioned not to send messages they would be reluctant to make public because privacy is not promised.

1

See http://itim.tamu.edu/itpolicy.html for full list of TAMU Information Technology rules and Standard Administrative Procedures and specifically “Information Resources – Acceptable Use” (http://rulessaps.tamu.edu/PDFs/29.01.99.M1.02.pdf) and “Rules for Responsible Computing” (http://rulessaps.tamu.edu/PDFs/29.01.99.M2.pdf).

3

Ethics and Appropriate Use All users of IODP-USIO communications systems are bound by the TAMU ethics policy. Users may not •

Display, store, distribute, edit, or record sexually explicit material using IODPUSIO computing and/or communications systems.

•

Use IODP-USIO computing and/or communications systems to infringe on copyrights or download and/or distribute pirated software or data.

•

Deliberately introduce and/or propagate malicious programs (e.g., viruses, worms, Trojan horses, e-mail bombs, etc.).

•

Use IODP-USIO computing and/or communications systems to perpetrate fraud; distribute defamatory racial, religious, ethnic, or gender statements; or otherwise inflict harm on any third party.

IODP-USIO information resources are vital academic and administrative assets that must be managed as valuable resources and require appropriate safeguards. Effective security management must be employed to appropriately eliminate or mitigate risks posed by potential threats to these resources. This is a team effort involving the participation and support of all USIO employees and guests who deal with information systems and communications resources and facilities on the JOIDES Resolution. No real or virtualized device, service, or software including but not limited to proxy servers, remote desktops, client remote control services, virtual private networks, or network translation devices are allowed on the IODP-USIO communications network without explicit approval by the TAMU Supervisor of Information Technology and Support, or a Marine Computer Specialist if a request is made by a member of the science party or IODP staff embarked on the JOIDES Resolution. Repurposing any IODP-USIOprovided communications service or device or circumventing any control intended to regulate such usage is strictly forbidden.

PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS E-mail and telephone services are provided for use by all IODP-USIO expedition participants and staff.

E-mail E-mail System Used on the JOIDES Resolution: Official business email correspondence is handled by the shipboard GroupWise server. GroupWise can be accessed using any one of the many general-use computers provided on each expedition. GroupWise may also be accessed using a POP- or IMAP-compliant email client on your personal computer. Shipboard E-mail Accounts: All shipboard USIO staff and IODP science party members will be assigned a shipboard GroupWise e-mail account for their use. Accounts are activated after

4

individuals agree to the terms of this policy by signing the IODP-USIO Ship/Shore Communications Policy consent form. •

Regular seagoing USIO staff can obtain the consent form from a Marine Computer Specialist or on the USIO Intranet http://iodp.tamu.edu/participants/policies/IODP_Comm_Policy.pdf and submit the signed form to the shipboard Marine Computer Specialist on their first expedition. Consent is valid for future expeditions until such time that the terms of the policy change.

•

All other shipboard participants receive the form, valid for only one expedition, at the start of the expedition.

The shipboard Publications Specialist is responsible for filing all consent forms, and the Marine Computer Specialist is responsible for deactivating unused e-mail accounts between expeditions to prevent receipt of e-mail to inactive accounts on future expeditions on the JOIDES Resolution. User Responsibilities: Each user is responsible for all incoming solicited and unsolicited e-mail. Therefore, it is important that users release their personal shipboard e-mail address only to those from whom they wish to receive communications. To economize available communication resources (bandwidth), users should not subscribe to list servers or forward e-mail from their shore-based accounts to the ship. IODP-USIO TAMU-based IT personnel will monitor e-mail account sizes. Because of the high latency of satellite communications, large file attachments put the delivery of e-mail messages in jeopardy. Users should limit the size of attachments. If required, it is possible to transfer larger files to and from the ship. Transferring large files can be done by the shipboard MCS staff. For details, see the message size limit discussed in the Appendix. All attempts will be made to provide 24/7 Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) connectivity; however, daily e-mail exchanges are not guaranteed if there are poor transmission conditions and/or equipment and software failure. IODP-USIO cannot guarantee delivery of messages and, thus, cannot accept any liability resulting from communications problems. Shipboard E-mail Addresses: All shipboard participants and employees will be assigned an e-mail address and initial password, which they should customize upon receipt. Users are responsible for the protection of their accounts and passwords against unauthorized use. Addresses take the following general form: IODP-USIO employees

JR_@ship.iodp.tamu.edu

Transocean employees

JRO _@ship.iodp.tamu.edu

Expedition participants

JRS_@ship.iodp.tamu.edu

Where identical last names exist, the first initial of the first name is added as a suffix to the last name, preceded by an underscore (e.g., [email protected]).

5

Where identical first initials and last names exist, special arrangements for an e-mail address will be made by the shipboard Marine Computer Specialist. Social Media JOIDES Resolution and IODP-related blogs and social media postings should treat the USIO, its employees, expedition participants, and IODP affiliate organizations with respect. Confidentiality agreements about expedition science must be upheld.

Telephone Telephone service on the JOIDES Resolution connects to local telephone service in College Station, Texas, U.S.A. All calls to/from other shore locations are long distance and must be paid for by the caller. Communications directed from the shore are restricted to business use and for emergency personal communications only. Routine Personal Communications Routine personal calls can be made only from the ship; no incoming calls may be received (see “Emergency Personal Communications”). Emergency Personal Communications Telecommunications between the ship and the public are configured to be initiated from the ship. In case of personal emergencies, where relatives need to contact an individual on the ship, the phone number to connect to the shipboard telephone system is 979-845-3725. USIO-TAMU staff will transmit a message to the shipboard individual. Urgent personal messages can also be sent to the JOIDES Resolution via email. See Appendix, “Telephone Service” for more information.

OFFICIAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS All parties involved in business communications to and from the JOIDES Resolution are responsible for assuring that information they send and/or receive is distributed to all relevant parties.

Distribution Classifications There are three classes of official communications: open distribution, limited distribution, and confidential distribution. Open Distribution: Informational communications meant for general distribution to IODP-USIO personnel are open distributions. Open distribution communications include routine reports, meeting minutes, policy updates, all-staff messages, and general cruise information messages.

6

Limited Distribution: Limited distribution communications are intended for distribution to limited groups or individuals within IODP-USIO. There is no required distribution list for limited distribution communications. Confidential Distribution: Confidential distribution communications cover IODP-USIO business communications that are inappropriate for public distribution and involve the following issues: •

Proprietary operational discussions

•

Criticism of action(s) taken by individual(s) or department(s) in the normal course of IODP-USIO activities

•

Reports of accidents or illness among shipboard participants that could affect the ship’s operational plan

•

Staff disciplinary problems

Confidential distribution communications must be copied to the recipient’s Department Manager and/or other management personnel, as appropriate. These messages may be transmitted using either an IODP-USIO business account or a personal e-mail account, as the case may warrant.

IODP-USIO Position-specific Shipboard E-mail Accounts Specific IODP-USIO group distribution accounts are established for transmitting limited distribution messages at the discretion of the department managers. Changes to these accounts may be modified on an expedition-by-expedition basis by the appropriate Department Manager. To identify the author who uses one of these accounts, the authorized user must include their name in the body of the e-mail message. These accounts are not for personal use and should only be used to transmit official communications. In addition to IODP staff accounts, some Transocean shipboard employees, including subcontractors, may be assigned business e-mail accounts for communications that are used on the ship only.

7

APPENDIX

Use of Communication Systems Aboard the JOIDES Resolution The IODP-USIO Science Services Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT)-based communication system on board the JOIDES Resolution includes any connection, transaction, or information stream utilizing the VSAT satellite system for transactions between a telephone, computer, or any other real or virtualized communications device controlled by an employee (any individual who is employed by the IODP-USIO, a subcontractor of the IODP-USIO, or any affiliate) or participant (any individual who is not an employee and utilizes these information technology resources) or any other such device configured to provide a means of communication.

VSAT MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE Management of VSAT System: Although every attempt is made to provide access to the services listed below, not all services can be provided simultaneously over the 512 kilobits per second (kbps) circuit. To ensure that sufficient, or at least some, bandwidth is available for each service, satellite services have been assigned a priority code (1–5, 1 = highest priority). Priority order of services is telephone (emergency contact), video conferencing, file transfer (FTP), system management, and World Wide Web. If high-priority services are not in use, bandwidth is automatically allocated to the next lower priority service. When a higher priority service is initiated, it consumes a share of the bandwidth, if possible, at the expense of lower priority services. In the case of insufficient bandwidth or conflicts in the use of the system, the IODP-USIO TAMU Expedition Project Manager/Staff Scientist will resolve the use of the system. Maintenance of VSAT System: Maintenance activities are coordinated on shore by IODP-USIO TAMU-based IT personnel and on the ship by the Marine Computer Specialist. The Expedition Project Manager, Operations Superintendent, Laboratory Officer, Captain, and Offshore Installation manager should all be informed in advance prior to any maintenance which will impact the communications to or from the vessel. The onboard Electrical Supervisor and/or Electronics Technicians may also provide assistance.

DESCRIPTION OF COMMUNICATION VSAT SERVICES A number of communication services are provided at no cost to JOIDES Resolution expedition staff and participants including IODP business telephone, file transfers, e-mail, access to shipboard servers for shore-based systems managers, and browser access to the World Wide Web. Access to VSAT will be monitored and managed from shore by IODPUSIO TAMU-based IT personnel.

8

Telephone Service: Ship-to-shore calls: Five telephone lines are routed from the ship and are programmed as follows: •

Three lines are dedicated exclusively for USIO business calls.

•

Two lines (in the ‘tween lounge and outside the crew change area on the main deck) are dedicated as public phones. Anyone can use these lines for personal calls.

Shipboard participants may use a calling card (available for purchase onboard the ship) or credit card to pay for long-distance phone calls. Shore-to-ship calls: The ship is assigned one phone number from shore for all business calls to the ship. The automatic attendant attached to the ship’s telephone system answers incoming calls and presents callers with a menu of selections. In case of an emergency when VSAT is unavailable, the ship’s Inmarsat B satellite system will be used as a backup. Callers who use the backup telephone will be charged at the current per-minute rate and will be required to sign the call log kept by the shipboard radio operator. Video Conferencing Service: The USIO VSAT system allows for two-way video conferencing between ship and shore for various business, technical, and educational purposes. The facility is located in the shipboard Conference Room on the Foc’sle deck. Using portable equipment, conferences can also be held in other shipboard laboratory spaces. File Transfer Service: File transfer services are available over the VSAT system. File transfers using file transfer protocol (FTP) can be made from any of the numerous shipboard workstations with Internet access. Systems Management Service: Authorized IODP-USIO personnel can access the ship's servers, workstations, and network to assist in managing and troubleshooting shipboard systems. Access to VSAT electronic components is granted to VSAT provider technicians for maintenance work, as needed. Access to communications equipment located on the TAMU campus is available to TAMU Computing Information Services/Trans-Texas VideoNetwork (CIS/TTVN), staff as needed. World Wide Web Service: Although VSAT allows access to the Internet, bandwidth limits the number of simultaneous Web sessions available. This is because access to the Internet is considered the lowest priority service of all VSAT services. In order to maintain acceptable performance levels, IODP-USIO limits the number of workstations available for Internet access. Our practice is to provide several Internet access stations in the Science User room, and in general to have an Internet access workstation in each laboratory space. In addition, the Expedition Project Manager has the authority to designate workstations as Internet accessible on a mission specific basis. Mission-specific changes revert to previous configuration at the end of the expedition.

9

In order to protect the integrity of the shipboard network and provide safe and orderly operations, no other computers, including personal laptop computers, may connect to the Internet. Workstations allowed access to the Internet on the JOIDES Resolution may not host Internet services (e.g., file sharing, http, proxy servers, or Telnet), stream audio or video, or run instant messaging. Absolutely no private, non-IODP-USIO-TAMU network equipment (in particular, routers) are allowed on the ship’s network without prior approval from the IODP-USIO TAMU-based IT management. The network is periodically monitored for unauthorized equipment. E-mail Service: All e-mail is sent using VSAT E-mail is constantly exchanged with shore, but exchanges are not guaranteed if there are poor transmission conditions or equipment and/or software failure. Each cruise participant will be provided with a GroupWise e-mail account to use for shipboard business as well as Internet e-mail. Other e-mail accounts on shore may be available via a Web interface from specified Internet workstations located on the ship (see “World Wide Web Service” above). E-mail clients, such as POP/IMAP, may be used on personal laptop computers to manage individuals’ GroupWise e-mail accounts while on board the drillship. Note that any services on the shipboard network or VSAT system may be modified or terminated at any time by the Marine Computer Specialists.

E-MAIL SYSTEM AND INTERNET ACCESS TERMS CONDITIONS, AND PRACTICES IODP-USIO provides e-mail and Internet services to the scientific participants and staff aboard the JOIDES Resolution to allow contact with shore-based workers, friends, and family members during each expedition. E-mail service is maintained by the USIO-TAMU Marine Computer Specialist on board the ship. The USIO’s communication goals include continuous transmission of e-mail. However, although every effort is made to provide seamless service, there is no guarantee when email will be sent or received. Users of the shipboard e-mail system should be aware of the following stipulations: • Responsible use of the USIO-TAMU e-mail system is expected.2 • E-mail traffic to and from the JOIDES Resolution could be delayed for short or extended periods by unavoidable ship, shore, or weather conditions. • The maximum size of any message originating on shore and destined for the ship that can be automatically received is 5 MegaBytes. Messages larger than 5 MegaBytes will be “bounced” back to the sender, who may be notified that their e-mail was blocked. The message they receive will read as follows:

2

For further information about TAMU networking and information security, see http://net.tamu.edu. 10

“The message that you sent was undeliverable to the following: @ship.iodp.tamu.edu (message exceeds maximum allowed size).” Persons with whom shipboard participants will be communicating while on the ship should be notified of this limitation. In cases where the message exceeds the size limit, the message sender may request delivery of the message by contacting the IODP-USIO TAMU-based IT personnel (telephone: 979-845-7918 or e-mail: [email protected]). IT personnel will, in turn, obtain permission from the shipboard participant to send the message. Email messages originating on the ship and bound for the Internet will have a maximum size limit of 10 MegaBytes. • The USIO is not responsible for e-mail lost in transmission to or from the ship, nor will the USIO incur financial liability resulting from use of e-mail. • Sexually explicit material should not be displayed, archived, stored, distributed, edited, or recorded while using the IODP-USIO network and/or computing resources. • Like all other management entities, the IODP-USIO system does not guarantee e-mail privacy and does have the right to review and audit e-mail accounts on its computer equipment and/or systems at any time, as needed to investigate suspected illegal or inappropriate use (see “Privacy” in “General Remarks” in this policy). • E-mail and/or Web users may not knowingly use IODP-USIO facilities, services, or equipment to download or distribute pirated software or data. • E-mail and/or Web users may not use IODP-USIO’s computer facilities, services, or equipment to deliberately propagate any virus, worm, Trojan horse, trap-door program code, or malicious code or to crack passwords. • E-mail systems may not be used to infringe on copyright; perpetrate fraud; distribute defamatory racial, religious, ethnic, or gender statements; or otherwise inflict harm on any third party. Limited Distribution Practices: • When sending a limited distribution e-mail message, list only the recipients who need to address an issue in the “to” list and “cc” all other recipients who need to receive the information to help reduce the confusion regarding who should respond to the e-mail. • Limited distribution messages may be forwarded to other interested parties. • Limited distribution communications on the JOIDES Resolution, or to/from the ship, may be read (using proxy rights defined in the e-mail software) by the following: Staff Scientist/Expedition Project Manager; IODP-USIO TAMU Director’s Office and Department Managers; expedition Operations Superintendent; expedition Operations Engineer; expedition Laboratory Officer, and Logging Staff Scientist. • Accounts established on shore to allow access to limited distribution communications can be accessed only by authorized personnel. Department Managers may authorize opening limited accounts as well as set access, via proxy rights, to these accounts. The Department Manager may appoint an employee to manage proxy rights, archive, and monitor these accounts.

11

ENFORCEMENT Inappropriate use of communications services, devices, or VSAT resources could result in termination of network services to the JOIDES Resolution by TAMU authority or action by our VSAT services provider and put the expedition at risk; therefore, inappropriate use of any kind will not be tolerated. Inappropriate use of communications services, devices, or VSAT resources may result in termination of computer, network, and telephone privileges to the user and notification to the individual’s immediate supervisor. All users are advised that violation of some policies and statutes may result in criminal prosecution.

12