Comments for OzTech

Comment on Building Security? There Is No Such Thing by Doug

Doug — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:59:58 +0000

What you are going to start doing, I have been doing for several years at my job. I work in the university library as a computing consultant and specific exterior and doors are card swipe so the general public/students can’t enter. I have had several occurrences in which a student tried to follow me out with a book in hand. I am rather young looking so they thought they could just follow me out. I said sorry. If they refused to not follow me. I just don’t open the door and walk around the library for a couple of minutes or I leave the library using the main entrance.

This tacit is something that you can’t always do in an apartment building but you could always walk a couple of blocks before entering. Also, don’t accept excuses, such as I forgot my PIN/card, or I don’t remember my friends telephone number. If a friend forgets a telephone number and you where their room is, go in yourself and find that person and let them know that someone is looking for them.

-Doug

Comment on Do Computer Security Policies Actually Cost Employees More Downtime? by mhz

mhz — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:45:49 +0000

and the “you certainly have no experience” is not really warranted either. Lets be nice, shall we?

Comment on Do Computer Security Policies Actually Cost Employees More Downtime? by mhz

mhz — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:44:17 +0000

Well, for sure a power failure situation might cause just about anything to happen, but IMHO this is the kind of thing you probably need to call a Helpdesk tech for.

That should not be very common, and certainly would not warrant the additional risks that you get from giving std users full access to the machine.

Comment on Do Computer Security Policies Actually Cost Employees More Downtime? by oztech

oztech — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:17:13 +0000

To mhz:

You obviously have no experience with software troubleshooting. Files get corrupted from time to time and need to be removed. The cause is often because of a power failure while the user was using the application. In this case it was a log file that needed to be cleared out of the folder because it was too large. Look through the library of kb documents with any software company and you’ll find deleting a file is often to resolution to most problems.

Comment on Do Computer Security Policies Actually Cost Employees More Downtime? by mhz

mhz — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:20:56 +0000

If you had to delete a file out of the Program Files folder structure to get the software running, it sounds like pretty bad software design.

On XP a non-admin user can’t modify that structure, and an application that requires such a thing is *not designed to the specs for Windows XP*.

That is where the problem lies, and its very common. I am also in a position of supporting such legacy programs on XP, and it can cause some unique problems for sites that enforce security policies, requiring custom ACLs at some locations where NT was writeable but XP isnt (for std user).

Almost always, a situation like that happens because of poorly designed software applications. The Windows OS and the security policy administrator are doing things right…the application vendor is causing the problem.

Comment on Do Computer Security Policies Actually Cost Employees More Downtime? by Mike

Mike — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:41:02 +0000

It’s always a trade-off between security and convenience. You say allowing them install some minor update isn’t a big deal. However, if they can download anything or update anything how can (1) an IT staff keep all machines at consistent levels in terms of the software, updates and patches (2) prevent users from installing crap on their machines that end up putting them out of commission for longer than your 40 minutes?

Just playing devil’s advocate. Personally, security policies come from the top-down and it’s NEVER IT departments making policy. We just enforce those policies.

My opinion is middle of the road. I say as long what a user does isn’t compromising business applications or customer experience let them blow up their machines and perhaps next time they won’t be so careless.

From my last 13+ years in IT, security is a losing battle. As soon as management is inconvenienced or someone whines loudly enough policies suddenly become less stringent and things are opened up.

Just my .02…

Comment on Why Exactly Does Vista Suck So Much? by Brian

Brian — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:07:40 +0000

I agree with all of the points you mention except regarding dialog boxes. I actually count that as a real plus over the old system. I can see your point, and its true that you can miss them, but I’m quite a fast typer and if I switch to something else and am firing off a quick email or something while waiting for a dialog box, if it pops up on top I often hit the ‘y’, ‘n’, or ‘c’ keys without realizing the box is there yet (which closes the box before I can see what it is.

Minor point, but I think it speaks to a larger issue that many of the issues you point out are personal preferences rather than outright flaws. Problems with drivers and stability early on were a huge concern, but now that those seem to be fading away (QUICK - KNOCK ON WOOD!!!) I’m actually getting more happy with Vista than I thought I’d be.

Comment on Why Exactly Does Vista Suck So Much? by Jim in Virginia

Jim in Virginia — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:35:22 +0000

Vista’s been fine by me, and I haven’t experienced any of the problems mentioned. I recommend it to others and they have all liked the OS, with no significant issues.

I have to admit that there is so much Vista bashing going on (and it seems so spiteful), that it seems much more about hating Microsoft than it is about their products. (And no, I don’t work for them, never have, and I don’t own their stock.)

Really, if you hate them that much, just use Linux and Open Office and quit the whining.

Comment on Why Exactly Does Vista Suck So Much? by John Howard Oxley

John Howard Oxley — Wed, 14 May 2008 11:54:29 +0000

At the risk of beating a bass drum with a dead horse — the main objection to VISTA is DRM — which turns *your* computer into *Microsoft’s* computer. For the short term, I will stick with XP, and over the longer term, will move to virtualized 64-bit Linux with emulation for those “must-have” WINDOWS programs like OneNote and games.

Comment on Why Exactly Does Vista Suck So Much? by Davis McCarn

Davis McCarn — Wed, 14 May 2008 11:33:33 +0000

As someone who has been servicing PC’s for 32 years now, I have two big beefs with Vista……
1) Why did everything have to be re-arranged? I can help people with 95, 98, ME, 2K, 2003, or XP while driving down the road because the bulk of the paths to various functions are similar; but, in Vista, somebody had to build a better mouse trap (I Guess). And as for “easier to use”, NOT.
2) Leaving out the option to “Always Trust This Program” in the UAC was just plain dumb. I have already encountered big box store’s service departments disabling UAC, altogether, and, from what I understand, the result is a weaker security model than XP. Add the fact that most of the “incompatible” software works fine if you “Run As Administrator” and the lack of one, simple checkbox, could well be the reason for Vista’s lack of acceptance.

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