Network Security

[David Risner]

On Mon, 21 Oct 1996, Laurie Bonnice wrote:

> We have a LAN with over 80 users accessing the network.  We also have a
> WAN with about 8-10 users accessing at a time.  We are in the process of
> purchasing 60 new computers with Windows 95 and hard drives on them for
> use in the computer classrooms and labs.
> 
> We are looking at MS Winshield for Windows 95.  Copies must be purchased
> individually rather than purchasing user licenses.  I would be interested
> in any other comparable products as well.  Also, we received some
> literature from Centurion Technologies about a product they market called
> Centurion Guard.  It is a hardware product that protects the hard drive by
> making it "read only"  It also protects the hard drive from viruses,
> hackers, and accidental deletions.

My advice to you is:  if you still have the opportunity, get Windows NT 4.0
Workstation for these computers instead of Windows 95.  I don't know how
much this Winshield product is, but for eductional users the prices of NT
Workstation vs. Windows 95 is very small (I believe on the order of
$20-$30).  Windows NT has security instrisic to its makeup.  You can prevent
users from writing to the local hard drive as well as control what they can
or cannot run.  The network administrator can set the security features for
all the computers from their own computer and it can be based upon the
groups which the person logging on belongs to.  These features work with
both Windows NT Server and Novell Netware as the serving platform.

--
David G. Risner -- Network Services Administrator
Southwestern University School of Law, Los Angeles, CA
E-mail: drisner at swlaw.edu
Finger drisner at mail.swlaw.edu for PGP Public Key