In: Categories » Computers and technology » Data security » Public Terminals
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As with the building and facilities, control of physical access to the computing environment is an important component to its security. Once someone is inside a building, finding an unoccupied terminal or computer system is often easily accomplished. Without a policy for protecting these systems, unauthorized users can gain access to important and private resources, information, and files. Computer terminals in publicly accessible areas should be controlled carefully by limiting access to network facilities and resources, and establishing usage policies for employees and guests. Returning to the hypothetical case, Company Z has an open atrium area that contains several terminals accessible to employees and visitors. The following security policy, which provides regulations for the use of these public terminals, is posted in plain view: Rules and Restrictions for Public Terminal Usage · Guest accounts are capable of accessing the Internet only. · No Internal systems or resources are available via guest logins. · Guest accounts are automatically logged out after 15 minutes of idle time. · Employees should log out before leaving the terminal. · Please report all malfunctioning systems to the IT department. · All systems configured for public use are on a restricted-access network. · Systems are configured with guest accounts that have no access to company resources or systems. · Guest accounts are automatically logged out after a specified amount of idle time. · Guest accounts should be set to expire when no longer needed, based on the requirements of the guest. · Publicly accessible systems should allow no access to internal systems or resources. · Publicly accessible UNIX systems should be configured with a minimal set of utilities, have no network services running, and provide a restricted and inescapable shell to guests; the account should be removed when the visitor leaves the premises. · Publicly accessible Windows systems should not be domain members and guest accounts should have only the local user-group privileges. · Menus and commands should also be configured to allow access only to the appropriate Web browser program on the system and no other applications. Public terminals are often presented to accommodate the network needs of visiting employees, vendors, and business partners. These terminals require special consideration for security and posted regulations for their use in order to protect the computing infrastructure. The Company Z policy distinguishes between visitors and employees who use the terminals and presents sig nificantly more restrictions to the visitors. The administrators of these systems also have a security policy that outlines the measures used to configure the systems. This ensures that all publicly accessible systems are configured alike and helps ensure a known level of security
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