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Starting the week of 20 August 2001,
you will need to use your UCAR gatekeeper password to access any protected document
on a UCAR webserver. (This is the same password UCAR staff now use to access their time
cards.)
Most of these protected documents have the word "internal" somewhere in their
URL, but there are some additional protection methods. All of these old protection
methods are being replaced by a single method that is already familiar to staff.
This change puts protected web pages in compliance with UCAR's cleartext password
ban, and it simplifies and enhances UCAR's web security infrastructure. This change
affects anyone who accesses, creates, or maintains any of UCAR's protected web
pages. The change will occur throughout the week of 20 August, as the DNS changes
propagate through the Internet.
For more information about UCAR's August 2001 security restrictions,
see the SCD News article
Security perimeter
tightens.
Benefits
All authenticated accesses to the webserver will be done using a single,
familiar method, regardless of the network you are using (either inside
or outside the UCAR security perimeter).
This will be less confusing for users who
access protected websites from multiple networks.
All major web browsers will now be supported. (We have only been able to support
Netscape in the past.) The only limitations are that the browser must accept cookies
and support SSL (Secure Sockets Layer).
The centralized authentication (gatekeeper) database will be used for the new
system. This is familiar to UCAR staff because they use this same database
to access the UCAR time card system on the web.
Costs
You will have to accept a security certificate from the UCAR
webserver on each computer and for each browser you use to access
protected documents. Then you enter your UCAR login id and your
gatekeeper password when you access a protected document, even
from your office inside the UCAR security perimeter. You should
only have to log in to the protected document at most once every
four hours per browser session. When you exit your browser session,
or when your browser cache is cleared, you will have to log in
again.
For more information, contact the SCD Digital Information Group at
dig@ucar.edu.
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