Policies and Guidelines in Disabling of USB Ports and DVD Drives of All BIR Desktop Computers/Workstations

November 19, 2019 REVENUE MEMORANDUM ORDER NO. 059-19 SUBJECT : Policies and Guidelines in Disabling of USB Ports and DVD Drives of All BIR Desktop Computers/Workstations TO : All Internal Revenue Officials, Employees and Others Concerned I. OBJECTIVES: 1. Prescribe the policies and guidelines for disabling ports for USB-based memory sticks, flash/thumb/jump/key and DVD drives of all BIR desktop computers/workstations to secure important BIR assets ( i.e. , desktop and data). 2. Comply with the requirements of Republic Act No. 10173, otherwise known as the Data Privacy Act. CAIHTE 3. Prevent data from being deliberately or inadvertently moved outside the BIR network and/or premises where it can potentially be accessed by unauthorized resources. 4. Avoid the proliferation of viruses or other malwares that can potentially harm the BIR assets. II. POLICIES AND GUIDELINES A. USB ports and DVD Drive (saving/writing capacity) of all BIR desktop computers/workstations whether leased or owned shall be disabled except USB ports for printer, mouse and keyboard connection. B. The DVD Drive components of desktop computers/workstations shall be for reading capacity/use only. C. The desktop computers of the following revenue officials shall be exempted from disabling of USB ports until the use of Network Attached Storage (NAS) is in place: 1. Commissioner of Internal Revenue 2. Deputy Commissioners 3. Chief of Staff of the OCIR and ODCIRs 4. Assistant Commissioners 5. Head Revenue Executive Assistants 6. Regional Directors 7. Assistant Regional Directors 8. Revenue Data Center (RDC) Heads 9. Revenue District Officers 10. Assistant Revenue District Officers 11. Division Chiefs 12. Assistant Chiefs 13. Section Chiefs D. The Network Management and Technical Support Division (NMTSD)/Computer Operations Network and Engineering Division of Revenue Data Center (CONED-RDC) shall: 1. Configure/disable USB ports and DVD drive of BIR computers/workstations. 2. Ensure and monitor that all USB ports and DVD drives are disabled in desktop computers/workstations. 3. Maintain and monitor that anti-virus and anti-malware have been installed and regularly updated in the desktop computers/workstations exempted from disabling of USB Ports and DVD drive. III. EFFECTIVITY This Order shall take effect immediately. DETACa (SGD.) CAESAR R. DULAY Commissioner of Internal Revenue