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King County Prosecutor's Office
Office Computer and Network Use Policy

Office computer equipment is provided for work purposes and may only be used for the occasional personal use described in the separate section of this manual entitled "Email and Internet Use". Additionally, employees may display a computer desktop wallpaper picture of their own choosing, provided that the same picture would be appropriate in our office if pinned to a bulletin board in the same workspace.

I. DESKTOP PCs ARE OFFICE HARDWARE

Desktop PCs belong to the office. Members of the office Computer Services staff are the only people permitted to install, modify, move, or replace any desktop PC equipment.

• Employees changing offices may not move PCs. With rare exceptions, the PC stays in the office where it was installed. The only exceptions are cases where the Directoror of Computer Services determines that special work requirements necessitate moving a particular machine.
• Only Computer Services staff members may replace, modify, or install desktop PC components or peripheral devices such as drives, speakers, mice, etc.

• Employees may install a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) provided:

  • The employee first notifies the Director of Computer Services;
  • The device is compatible with the employee's computer;
  • The employee has the skills to install and maintain their own PDA; and
  • This provision creates no right to any change of office equipment in order to accommodate any PDA.

II. SOFTWARE

Programs are installed in our office to work compatibly with each other and within the office network. Program distribution and installation must also strictly comply with manufacturers' licensing requirements. Therefore, Computer Services staff members are the only people authorized to install programs on office computers, whether from a CD, the Internet, or otherwise.

• Some programs, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing PDF files, are provided by the Computer Services Network Administrator for employees to download themselves from the file folder Icon labeled "Programs" on each employee's desktop PC screen.
• Employees with specialized work needs for additional programs must call Computer Services for assistance rather than perform self-installation of any application not offered through the Programs folder Icon on the employee's desktop screen. For example, the Real Player application offers myriad options during downloading from Real Networks. Failure to notice or uncheck any number of items during this process can result in unintended installation of unwanted additional software that slows machine performance and changes default settings on other programs.
• Customized "screen savers" are not authorized. Modern computer screens no longer require screen savers. Many screen savers occupy large amounts of computer memory and slow the overall performance of the machine. The screen saver functions are exclusively reserved for Computer Services use for network security related functions.

III. GAMING, INTERNET RADIO, AUDIO CDs, AND INSTANT MESSAGING/INTERNET "CHAT" ARE PROHIBITED

Members of the public performing a variety of roles are frequently able to observe our office workstations. The appearance of our employees using office equipment for games, radio, music, or chat leaves some members of the public with a negative impression of our office productivity and stewardship of government resources. Consequently, as a matter of policy, these activities are uniformly prohibited on all office computers.

• Employees who are otherwise permitted to listen to the radio or recorded music at work must provide their own audio listening equipment, separate from the office computer equipment and network (please note that the reliability and quality of office computer generated audio is consistently inferior to the performance of very inexpensive portable radios and CD players).
• Some games also slow computer performance, affect work related program applications and files, and unnecessarily complicate maintenance for Computer Services staff. No game installation, download, or play is permitted. Games will be removed from computers whenever they are encountered by Computer Services staff and the employee's supervisor may be notified.
• Internet radio listening, Instant Messaging, and Internet "Chat" applications all use a significant portion of the bandwidth available to the entire office to access the Internet. In an office our size, permitting employees to use these non-work related functions would slow access and data transfer speed for other employees trying to accomplish their work. Similarly, use of office equipment for MP3 software and music file exchange is also prohibited.

IV. NETWORK AND SECURITY

Employees are required to follow network protocol and security requirements established by the Network Administrator.

• Logout required. The greatest risk to network security is a desktop PC left unattended after an employee has not logged out.

  • Log out is required every time an employee leaves for the end of a work day.

  • Anytime an employee leaves a PC for longer than a 15 minute break, the extra effort to log out and log back in is recommended for added security.

• Files, such as Word Documents, are not secure and not backed up when stored in directories (folders) on office desktop PCs. Therefore, employees should store documents and other files in their assigned directories on the office network (usually the "H" drive).
• Passwords must be maintained securely. Improper password disclosure provides the second greatest risk to network security (second to an unoccupied computer left logged on).
• Employees are prohibited from sharing office or county Exchange passwords. Employees are also prohibited from writing passwords down and leaving them in the vicinity of their desktop PCs in plain view.
  

• File attachments and viruses:

  • Employees should use caution with files received as attachments to email or on disks. The Computer Services staff is available to assist employees by inspecting questionable attachments before they are opened. Attachments can contain viruses or other content harmful to individual PCs or to the office network. Some of these files or attachments alter or destroy other files or functions. Some provide a way for outsiders to gain access to a desktop PC or our entire office computer network - including to privileged or sensitive work products. Still others attach themselves to email messages they generate from the infected computer's address book.
  • Attachments from an unknown sender should not be opened.
  • Attachments provided to employees by known and trusted sources with a file extension indicating a common format are typically safe to open. For example:

    *doc *pdf *.xls *.ppt *.jpg *.gif

    Word Document Portable Document file Excel Spreadsheet Power Point Presentation Graphical Interchange Format Joint Photographic Expert Group

  • Please note that some harmful files can attach themselves to messages from known and trustworthy sources and appear with the common file extensions explained above. Consequently, even an attachment from a friend or colleague should be questioned if it is not what that person would normally send, or if the accompanying subject line or text is inconsistent with how the sender would normally communicate. In these instances, please either confirm the attachment with the sender or seek help from the Computer Services staff before opening it.