LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY "OFFICIAL USE" GUIDELINES

FOR COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

March 22, 1995

SCOPE

The purpose of this memorandum is to outline acceptable use guidelines for the Los Alamos National Laboratory computing and information systems.

POLICY STATEMENT

Laboratory computers, networks, and information systems are government equipment. Common sense and good judgment should guide users when they consider whether a use of these government resources is related to official business. Users should remember that when they use a Laboratory computer or network resource, they are acting in their employment capacity. Any activity outside that employment capacity or which could bring embarrassment to the Laboratory must be avoided.

BACKGROUND

Laboratory computer systems and communication networks are funded by the United States Department of Energy for the purpose of supporting its programmatic and scientific research efforts at the Laboratory. As such their uses are strictly controlled government resources and are to be used only for official business. Because these are government resources, the Laboratory or the federal government may, without notice, audit or access any user's computer system or data communications. In addition, the Laboratory or the federal government may disclose any information obtained through such auditing to appropriate third parties, including law enforcement authorities.

Policy as defined by DOE Orders 1360.2B and 471.2 (which respectively govern unclassified and classified computer security programs) and LANL Administrative policies (AM 701) affirm that "Government resources, including computers, are to be used only for official business."

Email sent from the Laboratory network always bears the address "lanl.gov." As such, regardless of disclaimers, when you use Laboratory email you are representing the Laboratory, the Department of Energy, and the University of California and must act accordingly.

Adherence to standards regarding appropriate use by all users is very important. Violations of Laboratory policy may lead to disciplinary action, up to and including termination.

GUIDANCE:

OFFICIAL USE: Official use for the purposes of this policy means any use justifiable as being related to the conduct of Laboratory business.

Besides activities obviously required for one's job, such as engineering computations, scientific research, sharing technical information for review, comment and information exchange, technical collaboration as part of one's research activities, office correspon-dence, and administrative record keeping, official use by this policy also includes activities such as the following:

• Professional development and educational activities consonant with Laboratory employment
• Laboratory sanctioned community support activities
• Electronic mail related to the "social fabric" of the Laboratory and of colleagues and collaborators outside the Laboratory (i.e., lunch dates or appointments with co-workers or colleagues, work-related social functions, etc.)
• Incidental perusal of information (e.g. newsgroups) for education or professional development reasons.

UNACCEPTABLE USE: Activities that constitute unacceptable use of Laboratory computers or network facilities are, for example:

• Use of government equipment for personal gain
• Use for political purposes (e.g. lobbying)
• Illegal activities (e.g., fraud, embezzlement, theft, pornography)
• Unauthorized entry to other computers or networks or distributing viruses
• Misusing or forging email, or tampering with the Laboratory email system
• Activities likely to result in embarrassment to the Laboratory or DOE, (e.g., reading or distributing pornography, making libelous statements)
• Any activities explicitly prohibited by LANL policy (e.g. sexual harrassment, gambling)
• Use that interferes with job performance for an unauthorized purpose (e.g. using a Lab laptop to calculate sports statistics or balancing a personal checkbook)