In this week's Managing Computer Systems lecture, you learned about threats to computer systems ranging from hardware failure to natural disaster to malicious intrusion by hackers or malware. In your workplace or home environment, what precautions are in place to safeguard data and to keep computer and network systems operational? Do you see any areas where additional steps could be taken to improve security and reliability?
There are many things in place to safeguard data and information on networks and computers in both personal and public settings. Whether they are used to deter hackers or ways to limit the likelihood of your device being physically stolen, there are all sorts of ways to provide an extra level of security.
A very large, but usually overlooked, threat of leaving a computer or workstation unlocked can result in very devastating consequences. Neglecting to lock your workstation when you step away from it leaves it vulnerable to intruders and allows them to potentially perform activities in your name and access programs and systems that you have access to.[1] To combat this threat every computer in our radiation therapy department was recently equipped with an Impravata badge reader that allows us to login and out of workstations with just the swipe of our badge. Your workstation is still active when you swipe your badge and logout so it allows for efficiency when logging back in because you don’t have to spend time accessing all the systems you were working on before. Because of the increased ease of being able to pick up right where you left off at your workstation after swiping your badge to logout there really isn’t a reason to not secure your computer.
Although Impravata has made it easier and more efficient to secure a workstation, there are many flaws that I see with this system. With the implementation of the badge scanners IT also introduced “single sign in” which means that when you badge into a computer and it will automatically put in your username and password when opening programs and systems. This means that if someone has your badge they could potentially log in to almost anything on your workstation (i.e. email, our clocking systems, Epic, etc.), but Aria still requires you to put in your credentials no matter what. As a radiation therapist, when we are treating patients we are constantly going in and out of the room and moving from computer to treatment console without securing our workstations. I feel that this is mainly because the badge readers are new and we are still getting used to using them. We will have to continue to be mindful of securing our computers and workstations.
Reference:
A very large, but usually overlooked, threat of leaving a computer or workstation unlocked can result in very devastating consequences. Neglecting to lock your workstation when you step away from it leaves it vulnerable to intruders and allows them to potentially perform activities in your name and access programs and systems that you have access to.[1] To combat this threat every computer in our radiation therapy department was recently equipped with an Impravata badge reader that allows us to login and out of workstations with just the swipe of our badge. Your workstation is still active when you swipe your badge and logout so it allows for efficiency when logging back in because you don’t have to spend time accessing all the systems you were working on before. Because of the increased ease of being able to pick up right where you left off at your workstation after swiping your badge to logout there really isn’t a reason to not secure your computer.
Although Impravata has made it easier and more efficient to secure a workstation, there are many flaws that I see with this system. With the implementation of the badge scanners IT also introduced “single sign in” which means that when you badge into a computer and it will automatically put in your username and password when opening programs and systems. This means that if someone has your badge they could potentially log in to almost anything on your workstation (i.e. email, our clocking systems, Epic, etc.), but Aria still requires you to put in your credentials no matter what. As a radiation therapist, when we are treating patients we are constantly going in and out of the room and moving from computer to treatment console without securing our workstations. I feel that this is mainly because the badge readers are new and we are still getting used to using them. We will have to continue to be mindful of securing our computers and workstations.
Reference:
- MacLennan, G. Managing Computer Systems. [Softchalk]. La Crosse, WI: UW-L Medical Dosimetry Program; 2016.