Historical Perspective

Before 2014, UNT's firewall would let any Internet user connect to almost any computer on the UNT network. That practice allowed people with bad intentions to search for vulnerabilities across many computers (akin to walking down a hallway checking for open doors) and exploit them to steal identities, compromise other systems, or send fraudulent email (phish, spam) to other Internet users. To reduce those problems, the UNT Board of Regents required UNT's firewall allow only pre-approved access to select computers on the UNT network.  The UNT System's IT Security group governs our firewall's operations.

Work Methods

In most cases, people may use our web-based file and email services to do their work from off-campus or use our VPN services to make off-campus computers act like on-campus computers.

Exception Reasons

Alternatively, users (typically, IT savvy technical staff) may request an exception to enable direct access from all (or select) off-campus networks to specific computers and services. Submit an exception request if you advanced education and learning by providing a:

• Collaborative environment to work with non-UNT colleagues. Examples include:
  • Remote viewing of mass spectrometer processing/results by non-UNT scientists 
  • Management and maintenance of systems by contractually-bound vendors
• Publicly-accessible service. Examples include:
  • Web-based services (e.g., survey systems) UNT does not already provide another way
  • Data input by non-UNT scientists for processing by proprietary algorithms

Exception reasons do not include convenience.

Request Exception

1. Review above content, especially exception reasons
2. Login to display the form below.
3. Submit a form for each exception request (contact your building tech for help).
4. Logout when done.