Every device that is connected to the Internet is given an IP address. These IP addresses are often able to be narrowed down to a region in the world. Hancock College along with many related third party services utilize this general location information to prevent malicious activity. By blocking traffic from countries that are known to have malicious traffic and are highly unlikely to have legitimate reasons to use Hancock College resources, we are able to prevent a fair amount of malicious traffic.
Sometimes, often when traveling, students or employees find that they are unable to access the resources that they might need. ITS can help for services hosted on site. Please email infosec@hancockcollege.edu with the services you use along with the dates and countries that you plan to travel and, if possible, ITS will temporarily allow access to those countries.
Hancock College ITS does not have control over restrictions that third party services might have in place. For vital applications over extended periods it is suggested to connect to the VPN network and use remote access tools to browse from the Hancock College network.
These policies for geolocation restrictions will continually be updated. Starting in December 2023, ITS will be notified of log in activity on m365 products from new locations. Be aware that ITS might ask to confirm that activity from new locations is legitimate.