Attention Account Sponsors--Does Your Account Have an Alternate Sponsor?

Managing DCRT accounts is an important job—more important than most realize. Account sponsors have responsibilities that go beyond just adding and removing users on their accounts. Alternate account sponsors are a must in order to accurately maintain NIH Computer Center accounts. When the account sponsor is unavailable or has left, the alternate sponsor plays a key role.

Can You Answer "Yes" to These Questions ?

• Does your account have an alternate account sponsor?

• Do you know who the authorized users are for your account?

• Are your addresses and phone numbers accurate?

• Have you advised your users on how to maintain a safe computing environment?

These are a few of the responsibilities of account sponsors. You can learn more about these, and other, issues in the DCRT seminar for account sponsors.

Orientation Seminar Available

The DCRT Computer Training program offers a seminar, "Orientation for Account Sponsors." This well-received, three-hour seminar is packed with information especially for account sponsors and alternate sponsors.

Among the topics covered are:

• What is an account sponsor’s role—and what is an alternate’s role?

• What is the difference between keywords and passwords?

• What is Web Sponsor and how can it help me?

• How can I reset RACF passwords for my users?

• How can I delete online data sets for my users who have left?

• Can I see how much money I’m spending?

There is ample time for questions and answers. To register for this class, go to the page
http://www.dcrt.nih.gov/csb/training/train.htm or call (301) 594-3278.

Establish a Safe Environment

One of the main responsibilities of an account sponsor is to ensure that users do not repeatedly guess at logon passwords or keywords. These are serious breaches of security and can result in formal security investigations. No more than four or five logons should ever be attempted before contacting the account sponsor or alternate account sponsor.

If you are an account sponsor, train your users properly and help them establish a safe com-puting environment.


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