CE - Prior Communications

Changes to the restrictions on staff use of personal devices to access university systems

You will be aware of the ever-increasing risk to our university cyber security and as part of our ongoing Cyber Essentials programme it is vital to tighten controls around the use of personal staff devices (excluding mobiles and tablets) to access digital systems and services, including university remote desktop services. This approach will allow the university to manage and administrate all staff devices that are used to access systems and data. 

From 19 February 2025, personally owned laptops and desk top computers will no longer be able to connect to university systems. All staff whose role is hybrid or staff members who are able to work off-campus will already have access to a university-provided (corporate) laptop for their role, as per Guidance for the Allocation of IT Equipment for Staff. All corporate UoC laptops will continue to work whilst both on and off campus and be unaffected by the changes. Students’ personal devices are ‘out of scope’ and not affected by the proposed changes. 

Access to university services by a personal smart phone or tablet (Android and IOS) will continue to be available providing the following conditions are met: 

• Use of any other personal internet browser to access university services will be redirected to the secure and managed internet browser, Microsoft Edge.
• The device OS version and type is actively supported by the manufacturer
• The device web browser used to access university resources will be Microsoft Edge (managed within the Company Portal App). Use of any other personal internet browser to access university services will be redirected to the secure and managed internet browser, Microsoft Edge.
• A minimum PIN of at least 6 Characters has been set.
• The device has not been tampered with outside of manufacture warranty guidance i.e. Rooted (Android) or Jailbroken (iOS).  

Further information will be issued via the Global and StaffHub in the coming weeks to support the changes. 

Restrictions on staff use of personally owned devices to access university systems 

Further to the recent communication regarding the tightening of controls around the use of staff members’ personally owned devices to access university digital systems and services, this is an update to provide additional information. 

Following feedback and requests from colleagues, we are extending the restrictions’ pilot to include a small number of members of staff from across the university (we are contacting volunteers directly for this).  The extension will supplement the pilot, that is also involving IT staff, to validate that the guidance instructions are complete and enable us to identify any extra user scenarios to coordinate in the transition to the new controls.   

Revised date 

As such, the pilot period will extend into March, following which the revised date for the restrictions being applied to all staff is 19 March 2025.  From that date, personally owned laptops and desk top computers will no longer be able to connect to university systems.  

Also, at that point to continue to use a personally owned smart phone or tablet, steps will need to be followed by the member of staff to apply a Microsoft security system to their device; instructions for doing this will be provided one week before the go-live date. 

Thank you for your support with this change, which will be a major mitigation to the ever-increasing risks for our university cyber security. 

Please note that there is separate information and instructions for colleagues who are associate or external staff, as those instructions differ in some aspects.

Technology Services

Restrictions on staff use of personally owned devices to access university systems

Further to the recent communications regarding the tightening of controls for the use of staff members’ personally owned devices to access university digital systems and services, this is a final update.

The controls will be activated on 19 March 2025 (by 8.30am). If you would like to use a personally owned device, you will need to configure it from then.

Please help us to help you

The project team have spent a lot of time producing detailed user instructions (see the bottom of this page) so that you can set up your own device yourself. As such in the first instance, please do try to do this yourself – either by:

• using the written step-by-step guide instructions.
• or by watching the video guide, which is a screen-by-screen run through (with supporting commentary)

We envisage that this will be successful for the majority of colleagues.

If after that you still need help, then please contact the IT Service Desk. However, as this change is being made to all staff at the same time, and our support team is relatively small, initially we will need to focus on helping those colleagues who require priority support. So please help us by only making contact as follows:

• 19 – 21 March: only make contact (email or phone) if your issue is urgent and is preventing you from working. There will be extra colleagues from the IT service supporting the IT Service Desk, so please do not visit local IT offices as the teams will not be available for immediate face-to-face support - with the continued exception of issues impacting the delivery of teaching.
• 24 - 28 March: make email or phone contact if your issue is urgent and is preventing you from working; if your issue is non-urgent please only make email contact (i.e. not phone).
• 31 March onwards: returns to normal (please make contact via email or phone, regardless of whether it is urgent or non-urgent)

The IT Service Desk is open 8.30am-6.00pm Monday-Thursday, and 8.30am-5.00pm on Friday.

What you can do to prepare

• Prior to the activation day, you can check that your personally owned device is supported, and therefore suitable for configuring with the new controls – see the FAQs.
• You could then familiarise yourself with the user instructions for your type of device, so that you are ready for applying them on the activation day (or afterwards – whenever it is convenient for you).
• The FAQs have been expanded, so please do refer to them if you have any questions.
• If you are working from home on 19 March 2025, or on any days afterwards until you have set up your personally owned device, and you have a UoC-provided laptop computer - then please ensure you have that computer with you (in case you have any problems setting up your personally owned device).

Thank you for helping to further strengthen the university’s cyber security defences.

Technology Services