Can the internet public know more about you than you would like? According to an article at New Scientist, there’s a company that uses software to analyze blogs and forum posts to find out a blogger’s age, gender, and interests. Web workers who are avid users of Twitter also let the public know what they’re up to most of the day. Here at WWD, we also discussed the lack of privacy of the average web user when it comes to their browsing activity.
How do we maintain privacy when we work on such a public platform?
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For most of us, there may be no more tedious activity than waiting in a traffic jam. In this case, I mean waiting to clear security at an airport. Since 9/11, we have all become accustomed to the routine of shedding jackets and shoes, removing laptops and putting liquids and gels in 3-ounce containers.
At the risk of making your blood boil at the mere mention of the Transportation Security Administration, it’s time to step out on a limb and give the TSA credit for steps taken in recent months to reduce the natural anxiety we feel as we shuffle along in line.
The improvements are timely because the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, the most dreaded travel times of the year, are upon us.
The checkpoint process
The most recent development from the TSA is the establishment of “family lanes” at checkpoints at every U.S. airport. In many larger airports, the process goes a step further with the creation of three lanes for different types of travelers, using the same kind of diamond symbols that designate expert, intermediate and beginner ski slopes.
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As covered on our sister blog Earth2Tech, Cisco is out with an integrated set of product offerings dubbed the Cisco Virtual Office. This is turnkey telecommuting for companies with a bit of money in the bank: Earth2Tech got ballpark estimates of a couple of hundred thousand dollars to spin up an installation. For that price, you get secure routers, IP phones, and software designed to enforce corporate security policies across the widely-distributed enterprise - right into telecommuters’ homes.
As Earth2Tech points out, “remote workers are increasingly cavalier about security issues, as the lines between home and work uses of technology have become more blurred.” While high-end solutions like Cisco Virtual Office will appeal to larger companies, even independent and small-business telecommuters should expect to be faced with questions about security as companies grow more sophisticated in this area.
What do you do to protect company data when you telecommute?
Yesterday Google introduced a ‘remote signout’ feature for Gmail, providing a capability that sets an inportant precendent for web-based applications and indeed web workers.
Most web workers tend to hop between multiple devices to access our web applications; Gmail is a great case in point with multiple interfaces mechanisms spread across web, mobile, IMAP and POP3 formats, however it’s easy to lose track of where you’re signed in and compromise a little of your privacy and security if you’re not careful.
Remote Signout enables Gmail users to keep track of recent sessions by IP address and remotely logoff from any of those sessions if the time or location seems suspect.
Gmail inboxes, where the feature is being rolled out progressively, will include a new item in the footer labeled ‘This account is open in x other locations’ with a link to a more detailed view, as illustrated here to the left. Of course, you’ll need to know your own IP addresses to understand if any unauthorized usage is taking place, so it’s not the best user experience, though it works and is a welcome feature.
More significantly Remote Signout sets an important precedent for all web applications - namely that such a feature should be a design pattern employed in all web applications.
Oftentimes the only indication a user has of malicious use is when unusual things begin to happen within their services, in real life, or the arrival of unsolicited password reminder email in their inboxes! By wiring in the means to audit access usage of an application, one of the barriers to policing your personal security and privacy is lowered, enabling us all to be just a little more preemptively vigilant.
Learn more about Gmail’s remote signout feature at Google’s Gmail blog…
As a Mobile Web Worker, my laptop is the lifeblood of my business and my primary means of communication and productivity. It’s critical that it not only stay secure and free from virus and malware infection, but it also has to run smoothly and allow me to focus on the work at hand.
That’s why I am so intrigued by the Yoggie Gatekeeper Card Pro, an ExpressCard mini-computer that offloads 13 security applications from the PC to a powerful Linux-based mini-server. It brings the security of a corporate network to the mobile worker.
With applications ranging from Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam to Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems, the Gatekeeper Card Pro replaces all of your installed security applications and promises Pentagon Level Protection without the resource drain of running them directly on your laptop.
Yoggie has received rave reviews for their existing solutions like the USB based Pico and the Gatekeeper Card Pro seems poised to continue on in that tradition.
The Gatekeeper Card Pro will begin shipping on June 15th with a retail price of $199 but can be pre-ordered now for $159 direct from the Yoggie Store. It comes with a 1 year subscription for updates with a $40 annual renewal charge. It is 32-bit XP and Vista Compatible.
Are you ready to give up your desktop security apps for a Yoggie solution?
Information security is a very important consideration when using computer networks (including the Internet). Security is one of many reasons corporate IS departments exist.
However for your own personal and work-related communications, how do you ensure your emails and instant message conversations don’t fall victim to prying eyes?
With a distributed team, individuals might have valuable information that is transferred over the wire. Here are some ways you can encrypt the data you exchange with others.
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