Re: Allowing access to social networking... securely?

[Patrick J Kobly <patrick () kobly com>]

no () dot no wrote:
> If you have a user that will violate corporate policy by circumventing systems put in place, that is an HR issue.
Most assuredly, I would concur with this statement.    This doesn't, of 
course, detract from the need to consider risks introduced by bypass 
mechanisms in a decision as to whether to block SN sites.
> The examples you site, we block. We're incredibly concerned about data leakage being in the financial industry. Maybe those systems aren't needed in all forms of business. 
>   
As I indicated, there are technical controls that will be more or less 
effective against many or all of these mechanisms.  But they will
be either a) ineffective against at least 1 bypass mechanism or b) 
insanely draconian.

The argument here is that blocking SN sites in the workplace creates a 
hostile on your network.  That introduces new risks.  Whether the risks 
introduced outweigh the benefits of the blocking, I don't know - you 
know your environment.
> I'm of the belief that we all choose where we work, and we all play by the rules laid out by mgmt. We can choose to play along, or not. Those measures aren't put in place to make people's work environment less fun. They're done for the well being of the company. 
If the decisions are _actually_ based on a real business analysis...  As 
opposed to, say, resolving an HR problem of productivity by transferring 
the problem to the Security folks.
> It only takes one person to leak out sensitive data, emails, etc and create a potentially bad situation.
>   
Probably an indication that technical preventive controls alone (or 
primarily) may not be the right solution.  Particularly given that the 
controls that were initially discussed have almost exactly _nil_ impact 
in addressing that issue.


PK


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