----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, February 27, 2004 8:53
AM
Subject: [info-tech] Computer
Security...
Good morning-
We have had some people
objecting to our computer security here in Fort Dodge, and I wanted to check
into what everyone else allows people to do on the computers in the
classroom. We are slowly rolling out a program called Deep Freeze, which
discards all changes to the computer on reboot. With our WindowsXP
machines, we have successfully redirected the user's desktop, favorites, my
documents and most system settings to a network folder, which follows the user
from one XP machine to another.
So, in your districts, what is
the practice or policy for allowing the following modifications to a user
computer:
Desktop
Settings - Do you allow changes to Backgrouds, shortcuts on the desktop,
screen savers, etc
YES, BUT IF WE SEE
CHANGES THAT WE DON'T LIKE, WE CHANGE THEM BACK OR DELETE THEM. THE
BUSINESS TEACHER ALSO TAKES CARE OF SOME OF THIS WHEN SHE SEES
IT.
Do you
allow saving to the local hard drive, or restrict saving to the network
only
NETWORK FOLDER OR LOCAL
DRIVE, BUT MOST KIDS USE THEIR NETWORK FOLDER. AGAIN, IF I FIND SAVED
WORK ON THE LOCAL MACHINE, I USUALLY DELETE IT AS PART OF REGULAR
MAINTENANCE.
How about
disk space quotas - how much do you allow a user to store on the
network
NO PRE-SET LIMIT. WE TELL THE
KIDS WE WILL DELETE THE CONTENTS OF THEIR G DRIVE FOLDER ONCE EACH
SEMESTER. KIDS CAN BRING FLOPPIES, CD-R, OR ZIP DISKS TO SAVE WHAT THEY
WANT.
Use of
e-mail programs - do you have district supported programs, or can they use
anything they want
WE PROVIDE GROUPWISE, BUT NO
STUDENTS USE IT. MOST USE HOTMAIL, YAHOO, OR SOMETHING LIKE
THAT.
Installing
programs on the machine - both district-supported and personal
software
NO PERSONAL SOFTWARE WITHOUT ASKING
FOR PERMISSION AND THEN ONLY FOR CLASSROOM USE. I DO THE INSTALLATION OF
SCHOOL SOFTWARE IF THE TEACHER IS NOT ABLE TO DO IT.
Do you
allow computers to be used without any connection to the network
YES - WE HAVE A FEW THAT DO NOT
HAVE NETWORK ACCESS. THEY ARE VERY RARELY USED BY STUDENTS.
Do you
allow people to connect personal peripherals to the computer that require
software - digital cameras, zip drives, cd-burners, scanners,
etc...
RARELY IF EVER
REQUESTED.
In what
method do you suggest people move data from school to home for work - usb
flash keys, floppy, e-mail
FLOPPY DRIVES OR CD-R. E-MAIL
IS OK, TOO.
Sorry for all of the
questions. We are trying to get some baseline data for security that
other schools are using. If you would help us out, I would appreciate
it. I would be happy to compile all of the data and return it to the
list, should there be any interest for that. Again, thanks for any
help!!! Have a great weekend!!!
Jeremy
_______________________________________________
Jeremy
Pearson
Network Administrator / Computer Technician
Fort Dodge Community
School District
104 South 17th Street
Fort Dodge, Iowa
50501
http://www.fort-dodge.k12.ia.us
(515)574-5676
voice
(515)574-5324 fax
