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countrigal
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« on: May 13, 2005, 04:50:13 pm » |
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I can't believe what measures our IT folks have gone to now for IT security. Now, it is no longer sufficient to lock your PC when you will be away from your desk for any length of time. Oh no! Now, if you don't have any activity on your PC for 30 minutes, they will automatically log you out and when you return, you'll have to let it go through the long process of logging you back in, loading your settings, etc. And did they even think about what will happen if that happens to coincide with a time that the network is down? Nope, not at all. All they wanted to do was to keep folks from being able to use someone's logged-in PC to access information that they shouldn't. And you can't just lock your PC down and be safe... nope, even locked, if inactive for 30 minutes, you'll be logged-off. And any documents you were working on before the inactivity will be lost back to the last auto-save or save that you forced. So now, if my boss calls me away from my PC for a "quick question" and I don't return for 30 minutes, I lose all of what I was working on (to a point) and get the additional hassel of waiting for the system to log me back on and get my PC set back up for "me" prior to being able to go back to work. And then only if the network isn't also down. Where before I could continue to work "off-line" until the network connection was re-established, I'm now going to be a sitting duck waiting until that time - and there are times that it's hours. How am I going to be able to explain to my boss that I'm missing suspenses because I'm being logged off while at meetings, at lunch, etc, and can't get logged back on upon my return? This is just BS! And who thinks that 30 minutes of inactivity is long enough to correctly judge the need to log us out? I can end up spending 30 minutes on the phone helping a patient without even knowing it, while my PC sits unused. Sheesh!
Sorry folks, but this was announced yesterday and took affect today, and I'm NOT a happy camper. Just wish there was something that I really could do about it all. I will be keeping track of how much of my time is spent waiting for the PC to come back up every day, so I can show how this is affecting us doing our jobs. Should prove interesting... and it's not like I have a whole lot I can do during that down-time anyway, since all of my stuff is computerized work (just not always on my PC).
Does anyone else have to work around this type of security issue? How do you handle it, if so?
CountriGal
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juspeachy
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« Reply #1 on: May 13, 2005, 05:31:10 pm » |
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CG, I can relate somewhat. We were "cut over" to a new system (NMCI) last summer. Our machines will log out after about 15 minutes of inactivity; however, we can usually log right back in. They want us to leave our machines "on" but not logged in when we leave each evening. This is supposed to be so they can "push" updates during the night under the notion that it won't disrupt work. My major complaint is that each time you log on after a "log out," it pushes an installation manager program. Now, I don't know what this program is supposed to be doing, but it slows down and sometimes even locks up my computer. It takes anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes for this program to run. Needless to say, I try not to log all the way out during the day so that I only have to put up with it once a day. Also, thankfully, those times when my system kicks me out, it doesn't run again. One thing that I really dislike about this new system is that it prevents us from downloading anything. They will push "updates" along on a schedule, but meanwhile we are running without the latest version of something because we can't just go out and get it. Need a new driver for a printer or a scanner? Forget it! You have to put in a trouble ticket to get someone else to come do it for you. Oh, yeah; and if it isn't on the "approved" list, you don't get it. Good luck getting used to the new system, CG. Hopefully, the network will not go down very often. JusPeachy   |
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donnap99
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« Reply #2 on: May 14, 2005, 07:34:27 pm » |
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Why not just use a password-protected screensaver on every computer? It's in Windows already! DonnaP99 |
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countrigal
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« Reply #3 on: May 16, 2005, 02:57:54 pm » |
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Oh, they've disabled the user's ability to pick a screen saver, since folks were using "unauthorized" screensavers. So now we have the standard Microsoft screensaver, without ability of using passwords. And everyone is supposed to lock their PC when they walk away, and instead of inforcing that, they've determined that this will be the better option. We'll have to wait and see... I'm ready with paper and pen to document lost time due to this new security step they're taking.
CountriGal
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Jackie G
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« Reply #4 on: May 16, 2005, 04:06:29 pm » |
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If we don't lock ours here at the parliament, they automatically lock after so long and we have to put back in our password to re-open, but nothing is lost - the screen is open at the place you left it. Although I wouldn't like to test it by leaving an unsaved Word document, for example, overnight on a locked PC... just in case the network fried! Jackie, Peer Moderator www.iqps.org |
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countrigal
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« Reply #5 on: May 16, 2005, 05:22:04 pm » |
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To me, that would be an obvious way of securing the system, Jackie. But no, they're stating it will log you off, you will lose all data you were working on (if not saved just prior to locking the pc or prior to it going stagnant for 30 minutes), and you will have to wait for the network to log you back in. Tedious, tedious, tedious. But perhaps they've miscommunicated this all and our actual work stations will only be locked if inactive for a set amount of time, and not completely logged off, though my laptop was completely logged off. Just have to wait and see... and as it's lunch time, it's time to test it.
CountriGal
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Jackie G
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« Reply #6 on: May 16, 2005, 08:10:45 pm » |
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Sounds nutty to me. Keep a log, definitely a good idea. Somebody, somewhere will surely very soon be really and truly inconvenienced by it (hopefully not you, but on the other hand, if it is, you have your log to prove!) and will get IT to rethink the situation. Security gone mad or what! Jackie, Peer Moderator www.iqps.org |
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newbie
Newbie
Posts: 4
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« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2005, 10:28:31 pm » |
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Well I'll just say that this security measure just plain sucks! Keep a log and stick it to 'em girl!
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