NERSC Computer Security

NERSC computer security efforts are aimed at protecting NERSC systems and its users' intellectual property from unauthorized access or modification.

Among NERSC's security goal are:

• to protect NERSC systems from unauthorized access
• to prevent the interruption of services to its users
• to prevent misuse or abuse of NERSC resources

Security Incidents

Please save any evidence of the break-in and include as many details as possible in your communication with us.

Accessing NERSC

NERSC has instituted a number of policies to help achieve these security goals.

NERSC requires all users to protect their user passwords by only transmitting them over the network in encrypted form. Network connections for logins are allowed only through the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol. NERSC runs a specialized version of the SSH server that assists in intrusion detection.

File transfers can be accomplished by using the scp or sftp utilities, both of which use SSH protocols. Secure access to the HPSS storage system is also available via ftp and hsi, using "hpss tokens".

1. Connection for shell access: Connect using the Secure Shell (SSH) capable client software.
2. Connections for file transfer: Connect using the scp or sftp utilities. (Also, special ftp
and hsi for HPSS).