Changes to Otago Polytechnic Cyber Security 

The risks to cyber security are greater every year and we are responding by tightening our security on our digital platforms to make it harder for malicious software to be installed.

Otago Polytechnic has a responsibility to ensure we are taking all precautions possible to protect our digital platforms to keep our business continuity plans in place.  

Not only do we want to protect our systems and our users, our digital platforms are annually audited by Audit NZ. Every year we are challenged by Audit NZ to justify why we still allow local admin access on our digital platforms. We are one of the few remaining Polytechnics to not have already introduced these restrictions. Allowing local admin access opens the door to unwanted risks to security. 

Every day malicious software is downloaded onto Otago Polytechnic PCs and laptops and in some circumstances, they are not easy to fix, as can be attested to by the recent spate of cyber security breaches experienced by a number of New Zealand banks. Although we have security systems in place, we need to stay ahead of developments in the area of cyber security to keep our systems safe.  

In October we will be implementing new restrictions that will have an impact on our staff network users. These changes will not apply to the classroom, our students’ systems will remain status quo. Outlined below are the changes we will be phasing in over the coming months. 

Who will be impacted? 

• Otago Polytechnic staff network users 
• Apple device users will be affected differently to windows device users and any changes will be worked through separately 
• There will be no restrictions made to classroom computers at this stage 

What will change? 

• To ensure we protect our systems we will be implementing a process for installing any additional software onto OP devices.   

•  To install software or make changes to your OP device you will make a request through our service desk. This includes things like: 

       ◦         Installing new software 

       ◦         Installing printers (at Home) or other hardware 

       ◦         Making changes to computer settings  

• You may no longer be able to customise the environment on your screens i.e. font colour and background picture  
•   A list of approved/declined software will be published online 

 When  

• A trial will be undertaken in October with 15 staff across both Professional and Academic roles 
• Once the trial has been completed we will begin to the roll out of the new restrictions across the network 
• The roll out will be completed by April 2022 

Should you have any questions, please contact steven.turnbull@op.ac.nz

Ngā mihi, 

Megan