Forced logout effective immediately

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Heather Stanton
  • 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Effective immediately, the 49th Communications Squadron Network Administration section has implemented a forced logout control tool in order to ensure all Holloman workstations are compliant with network guidelines. 

The forced logoff is a way to enforce already existing security policy for the Holloman Network, said Master Sgt. John Sisson, 49 CS Network Control Center section chief. 

"Basically, it looks to see if specific software that is illegal on the network is loaded on an individual workstation," he said. "It also verifies that the system has current anti-virus software on it. If the system is found to be non-compliant, it alerts the user that they can log into the network two more times from that machine before it is blocked." 

Holloman has implemented the forced log off because it is the only way to enforce current policy, said Sergeant Sisson. Users have been notified for months, some have gotten a Computer Systems Administrator to fix the alert, but some have ignored it. 

"In a day and age where network attacks are a daily occurrence and our data being the life blood of the mission, we need to take this threat serious," said Sergeant Sisson. 

Since there are less CSAs on Holloman, this log out alert system will allow users to identify what is wrong with their workstations, said Tech. Sgt. Joseph Helferich, 49 CS NCC. 

Starting today, the following is being looked at: illegal software, Symantec Anti-virus program version, Symantec Anti-virus definition date and the last date the workstation has a completed virus scan, said Sergeant Helferich. In the near future, there will be other things added, including patches that have not been installed, active local user accounts and if the workstation is missing the SMS client. 

To avoid being logged off, simply pay attention to the log on script when logging onto a workstation. If anything shows up other than "Your system is compliant with published DoD/ACC requirements," contact a CSA to identify the discrepancies, said Sergeant Helferich. 

A user who does get forced to log off must contact a CSA to rectify the issue.