Perhaps OT but interesting

[Georgina]

------- Forwarded Message

From: "Gordon Keen" <gordonkeen at blueyonder.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 13:37:28 -0000
Subject: (Access-UK) -  BBC staff:Please note!



How does this affect access technology?
Are braille note takers and the like to be banned?
I think we should be told!

Text begins:
The Register  31 January 2002
              Updated: 04:47 GMT






            BBC bans use of non-MS PDAs
            By John Lettice
            Posted: 30/01/2002 at 13:31 GMT


            The BBC IT department has evidently taken the Microsoft
shilling, in
            some style. Our sources informed us a while back that the
company is
            spending a total of £61 million on Windows upgrades for
            approximately 24,000 desktops, and now an internal memo
leaked to
            NTK reveals that it has banned staff from using any
non-Microsoft
            PDA with company machines.

            So BBC staffers using Palms and Psions (Psion,
incidentally, is
            based not a molotov cocktail's throw from Beeb HQ) can
deem
            themselves security threats, and have until summer of next
year to
            switch or stop using them with the company kit.

            The BBC is actually standardising on PocketPC 2002,
claiming that
            all other PDA platforms are insecure. Microsoft does
indeed
            publicise the security features of of PocketPC 2002, and
there is,
            sort of, a real security issue for IT departments when it
comes to
            PDAs. But it's actually a lot more about BOFH
control-freakery than
            it is really about security.

            Historically, PDAs have overwhelmingly been owned by
individual
            staff, rather than issued by the employer, and as
connectivity has
            got better the staff have more and more started to sync
their PDA
            files with those on their desktop machines. And they're
also
            starting to copy sensitive company files to them so they
can work at
            home and on the move, so the corporate crown jewels are
walking out
            the door in people's pockets, and the devices aren't even
adequately
            passworded.

            Or at least that's what MIS, its paranoia fuelled by
'anytime,
            anywhere' propaganda, thinks. The reality of course is
that maybe 1
            per cent of relentlessly anal-retentive corporate PDA
users
            regularly sync substantial quantities of data between
their PDA and
            their company desktop. Mostly, people keep a few phone
numbers,
            diary, some notes, maybe pick up some email remotely (clue
here
            about how sensitive data gets out of building without legs
or
            pockets being involved at all), and if they've got company
documents
            they want to work on, they print them out, shove them on a
disk,
            email to themselves and work on a portable and/or home PC.

            What is it anyway, you may ask, that people have access to
on the
            corporate network that is both sensitive and likely to be
receptive
            to fitting onto and working on via a PDA? There really is
not a lot
            that staff would innocently transfer then accidentally
leak or lose,
            and if they deliberately want to steal and leak company
data,
            they'll get it out of the building without the assistance
of a
            blacklisted PDA anyway.

            As we've said before, the headaches IT departments are
having with
            PDAs are almost entirely self-inflicted. The propaganda
says you can
            use your PDA to log onto the corporate network and work on
your (or
            actually, not your) files, anytime, anywhere (VPN support
is a big
            Microsoft checkmark for PocketPC 2002), so if the IT
department buys
            into that, it then has to consider where its data is
going. And it
            has to consider how it can control data on PDAs that it
doesn't own,
            and doesn't necessarily support.

            So it has to outlaw them. Then it has to issue company
PDAs to the
            people who 'need' them. It has to support them, of course,
so before
            you can say total cost of ownership it's shelling out
several
            thousand bucks per PDA, per annum, while simultanteously
panicking
            about the amount of data that might be escaping.

            If it had just left people to buy their own PDAs, if it
had not gone
            for the full-on VPN trip, it wouldn't have cost it
anything. And if
            it had done some sensible things concerning data security
such as
            implementing sensible access restrictions, or maybe
(revolutionary!)
            using thin clients to ensure that data remotely accessed
remained on
            the corporate servers, then life might well be simpler and
a whole
            lot cheaper. But there's kit out there we don't control,
and we
            can't have that, can we?

            A couple of readers have asked us to encourage you all to
email the
            BBC complaining about the ban. We are of course happy to
oblige, and
            you can do that here. ®
Text ends.

Cheers
Gordon
>From leafy Surrey, England.
gordonkeen at blueyonder.co.uk




To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank message with no subject heading or text in the body to

access-uk-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.co.uk

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 



------- End of Forwarded Message