Encryption Software
Discussion
Hi all. Some advice please. Our HR Dept. has some space on a Server for all their files none of which appear to be password protected. They have just discovered that (we) as Administrators have access to all their files and are panicking ! They have requested that we get then some software to encrypt their files or password protect their folders ?. Anyone know of anything that may do the job. They obviously don’t trust us !! Cant imagine why though !!
This old chestnut - to be honest it is more pain than it is worth. Yes, you can use something like PGP, or another raft of other products to do this - the files are kept in encrypted form and therefore can only be read by the keyholder.
But, and it is a big but - you must be very careful using this type of technology. The encryption standards used will render access to the data virtually impossible should someone forget the passphrase for the key. So if these people encrypt their data and files and then forget their passphrase they are completely, utterly and totally fcuked... There are ways around this (dispursion of keys, 2 of 4 type technology and administrative access) but in general they are complicated and probably beyond the comprehension of the HR people in the first place - because it means that someone can access the files anyway - usually an administrator (kinda defeats the objective doesnt it!).
Also the other big but is backup and recovery. Hard disks fail and I assume that you have a backup process in place. Ok, fair enough, but does this system support encrypted files (remember you wont get any form of compression on encrypted files) and some backup systems wont support them. Also, what about recovery - you need to backup the encryption keys used and keep some from of reference to them. Finally - if you use something like PGP then it is a personal encryption system - for the individual. This is fine, but they cant share the files with other users (unless it is unencrypted - again defeats the objective). The only way to do this is to have encryption on the server for that folder.... but then again the administrators have access to the server to maintain it - and therefore access to the encrypted folder.....!! Again kinda defeats the objective... Your best bet is a well defined access control system for the files / folders in question. Use the operating system security to prevent unauthorised access from other users first - encryption should be a last resort.
They have to trust someone and that someone has to be the administrators. Health paranoia on security is good - this type of requirement is frequent and when you think about the issues, it usually goes away... There are solutions, but add so much complexity when the basics tend to be good enough. Simple points are as follows:
1) The administrators usually have full access to the system to maintain uptime
2) Access control is the best first defence
3) Encryption isnt the answer to everything
4) Enable auditing and logging on the server
5) Have administrators NOT use the ADMIN account and use specific user accounts with administrative privileges - thus trackable if necessary
Hope this helps and ask any question on the points that I have raised.
Cheers,
Paul
But, and it is a big but - you must be very careful using this type of technology. The encryption standards used will render access to the data virtually impossible should someone forget the passphrase for the key. So if these people encrypt their data and files and then forget their passphrase they are completely, utterly and totally fcuked... There are ways around this (dispursion of keys, 2 of 4 type technology and administrative access) but in general they are complicated and probably beyond the comprehension of the HR people in the first place - because it means that someone can access the files anyway - usually an administrator (kinda defeats the objective doesnt it!).
Also the other big but is backup and recovery. Hard disks fail and I assume that you have a backup process in place. Ok, fair enough, but does this system support encrypted files (remember you wont get any form of compression on encrypted files) and some backup systems wont support them. Also, what about recovery - you need to backup the encryption keys used and keep some from of reference to them. Finally - if you use something like PGP then it is a personal encryption system - for the individual. This is fine, but they cant share the files with other users (unless it is unencrypted - again defeats the objective). The only way to do this is to have encryption on the server for that folder.... but then again the administrators have access to the server to maintain it - and therefore access to the encrypted folder.....!! Again kinda defeats the objective... Your best bet is a well defined access control system for the files / folders in question. Use the operating system security to prevent unauthorised access from other users first - encryption should be a last resort.
They have to trust someone and that someone has to be the administrators. Health paranoia on security is good - this type of requirement is frequent and when you think about the issues, it usually goes away... There are solutions, but add so much complexity when the basics tend to be good enough. Simple points are as follows:
1) The administrators usually have full access to the system to maintain uptime
2) Access control is the best first defence
3) Encryption isnt the answer to everything
4) Enable auditing and logging on the server
5) Have administrators NOT use the ADMIN account and use specific user accounts with administrative privileges - thus trackable if necessary
Hope this helps and ask any question on the points that I have raised.
Cheers,
Paul
If you were being nice administrators to them you would lock the network security down so that only HR and a couple of specified (senior) technicians have access to thier files.
Of course it seems they don't trust you to do this, and considering that you choose to air problems like this on public internet forums and generally take the pi$$ out of them I can't say I blame them!
If they are just using MS Office, then they should use the document encryption which ships with Office, as that's pretty secure. Databases can also be locked in the same way.
Of course it seems they don't trust you to do this, and considering that you choose to air problems like this on public internet forums and generally take the pi$$ out of them I can't say I blame them!
If they are just using MS Office, then they should use the document encryption which ships with Office, as that's pretty secure. Databases can also be locked in the same way.
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