| Desktop Security | - by Trevor Smith |
One great way to prevent mishaps on the desktop and lessen the headache (and heartache) of lost icons, objects or entire folders and their contents is to implement some sort of desktop security. There are various add-ons for OS/2 available to do this, both shareware and commercial. This month I had a look at two of them: Maple Valley Software's Workplace Security v2.0.5, a shareware product, and Pinnacle Technology's Kid Proof/2, a commercial product. Both applications are aimed at single user workstations as opposed to networks or network aware machines.
Workplace Security v2.0.5
Workplace Security is a beautiful example of SOM programming done right. Available in German or English versions, installation is a simple thing, taking advantage of OS/2's graphical installation program. Uninstallation is also simple and the supplied graphical interface will remove all traces of the program from your system. Once the installation is done, the first thing you will notice is that a new folder has been created on your desktop but there are no program objects in it. Don't worry, nothing has gone wrong with the installation procedure; you don't need a program object to start Workplace Security because it is already running.
When you install Workplace Security, it modifies all the objects on your desktop including folders, program objects, data objects and the desktop itself. Each object now has a Password page in its settings notebook. To add password protection to an object, the user simply opens the settings notebook, clicks the Password tab, enters a password and clicks "OK". After closing the settings notebook, the object's pop-up menu will now contain a "lock" option. Selecting it locks the object.
What is Locking?
So what does locking objects do? Locking an object will always prevent it from being deleted, moved or copied and also prevent its settings from being displayed or modified. The other various options are user configurable and are also available on the Password page of the settings notebook. First, users may choose to have the icons of locked objects superimposed with a picture of a lock and/or add the word "locked" to the title of the object. There are also users configurable variations on what is allowed and not allowed with an object. Locked items can be set to open only by entering the correct password or to open (if they are folders) even when locked but still prevent copying, moving or deletion.
Other Features
For further safety, Workplace Security supposedly allows users to remove certain items from objects' pop-up menus such as arrange, open, copy, move, etc. During testing, I was unable to actually accomplish this in any way that resembled what the documentation seems to be indicating. When objects are locked all items are removed from the pop-up menu except "unlock" and "settings" and when objects are unlocked all items that normally appear on the pop-up menus seem to be there. It is unclear if this is a bug or just bad documentation.
A very nice feature however is the "master password". This password will unlock any locked object so if you forget a password for an object you will still be able to get at it. Theoretically you could set a master password (which is done in the Workplace Security Registration utility) and have a system administrator keep the password in case of emergencies. Unregistered versions of Workplace Security have the master password set to "master" and this can not be changed until you register.
Some Things That Are Missing
Some sort of multiple locking feature would be nice for setting many objects with the same password. This way a user could set certain "levels" of security by assigning different passwords to groups of objects so that certain people could have access to them with the same password. Likewise, it would be nice if entering such a password once would unlock all those objects with the same password but not affect others. Such features are not implemented.
Conclusions
Overall, Workplace Security is a small, useful add-on to the WPS and the price is very reasonable--only US$25 to register. For the home user who wants to make sure he doesn't accidentally delete objects or that others don't inadvertently (or intentionally) mess up his system it may be the perfect solution.
Kid Proof/2
Pinnacle Technology's Kid Proof/2, which is a single user version of their network enabled product, Desktop Observatory for OS/2, takes the idea of desktop security a little farther. Instead of using SOM to modify the way objects behave on the desktop like Workplace Security does, Kid Proof/2 creates multiple "snapshots" of desktops with different security settings on each of them. This approach has advantages and drawbacks over the object oriented approach of Workplace Security.
Like Workplace Security, Kid Proof/2 uses IBM's installation program so installation is simple and graphical. More importantly, it is also very easy (if not very well documented) to uninstall the program. The same installation utility recognizes that Kid Proof/2 is installed on your system and gives you the option to delete all traces of it from the hard disk and system files.
Basically, Kid Proof/2 uses virtual desktops and shadows of objects along with a few other tricks to lock certain users out of certain areas. The first thing you will see after installation is a small "Kid Proof/2" icon in the lower left corner of your desktop (this icon can be moved to any corner). Double clicking on it pops up a cryptic System Access dialog which allows you to logon, logoff or perform administration of desktops.
From the Desktop Administration dialog users define various user desktops, a default desktop, the actual users that will need to access the system and some additional security options. This is a relatively simple process although the instructions in the very short printed manual are not overly detailed. Basically, users are presented with a list of every object on the desktop and checkboxes for those objects' properties. Customizing a desktop is a simple matter of checking the "Hide" button for every object you don't want to appear on the desktop, removing any options (such as copy, move, rename, etc.) from the objects' pop-up menus by un-selecting the appropriate check boxes and saving the desktop with a unique name. Then different users can be assigned a unique password and access to certain desktops. The manual gives instructions on how to create a default desktop with nothing visible except the Kid Proof/2 icon, a desktop for a casual user and a desktop for the administrator. The advantage this strategy has over an object-by-object approach is that it is very simple to set a single password that allows a user access to only certain objects.
Advanced Stuff
As an additional level of security, Kid Proof/2 also includes the abilities to: remove most of the options from the desktop's pop-up menu, including delete and lockup; stop users from rebooting the system with ctrl-alt-delete; and stop settings notebooks from staying open. This last feature is a sort of work around that Pinnacle has devised where Kid Proof/2 constantly monitors the desktop and as soon as an object's settings notebook is opened by a user it is closed by Kid Proof/2. While not very elegant this works--most of the time. During testing I found it possible to quickly click some items in a notebook's settings before Kid Proof/2 caught it and closed it.
Kid Proof/2 also comes with a utility called Finder. When things go wrong and you just can't seem to find some objects on your desktop, this utility will come in handy. Finder is a sort of object browser that lists details about all the objects on your desktop and the objects within them. With it, you can set properties for any icons that insist on remaining hidden or other pesky offenders.
Conclusions
Although it may be a bit confusing to a beginner, Kid Proof/2 offers a fair amount of security for a casual user. With a MSRP of US$59 it may be a little pricey for someone who just wants to play but if you have small children who use your OS/2 machine, you want a simple way to switch between multiple desktops on a work computer or you need to lock down a machine for demo purposes (for example, in a retail store or at a trade show) Kid Proof/2 is a winner.
Workplace Security (zip 705k)
Maple Valley Software
Registration: US$25
Kid Proof/2
Pinnacle Technology
Phone: (800) 525-1650 -or- (317) 581-6262
MSRP: US$59
Trevor Smith is the editor of OS/2 e-Zine!. While researching this month's issue he finally found the security he was looking for.
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