Think before you click

Every day Air Force personnel introduce potential civil and criminal penalties into their computers and make the base network vulnerable. How? They check the “I accept” box and click next to continue.

Before clicking “next,” make sure the software is both legal and authorized. Software is legal when it is properly acquired by the Air Force and the proper documentation is maintained. Software is authorized only after it has been cleared through the wing information assurance office and a site certification checklist is completed. Every unit has a Unit Software License manager to take care of this in conjunction with unit Client Support administrators.

Every time software is installed, vendors require users to agree to its terms and conditions. How many of us actually read what we are agreeing to? The terms and conditions vary from vendor to vendor, but almost all include clauses that forbid making anything other than a single back up of their product or installing it on more than the number of computers for which you bought licenses. Most vendors require that the product is registered as well. For software installed on Air Force computers, registration is mandatory.

In addition to the restrictions imposed by the vendor, the U.S. government and the Air Force have rules to follow as well. The U.S. Copyright Law applies to software and provides that you can make only one back up copy of software. This is where violation penalties come in. For every instance of illegal/bootleg software, the Air Force and/or responsible individual could be fined up to $400 thousand and be imprisoned for up to five years.

Shareware, freeware, or personal software, opens another can of worms. Now, we are getting into the difference between what is legal and what is authorized. Per Air Force Instruction 33-114, shareware, freeware and personal software are unauthorized on government computers. Indeed, the only software authorized on any Cannon computer is on the AF Enterprise Product List. The Air Force goes to great trouble and expense to verify that the software on the AF-EPL will not have a negative security impact the network. In addition, Cannon has a relatively painless process in to ensure all commercial off-the-shelf software does not degrade the Air Force network security. This process must be completed before to the purchase of all software.

By now, you probably think that this whole software installation process has become complicated. As the Base Software License manager, I would be the first to agree. That is why you should leave this process up to the experts — your unit’s USLMs and CSAs.