Remote users are the weakest VPN link
John McCormick
Published: 23 Jul 2002 13:13 BST
My other telecommuter rules mainly stem from this basic requirement and the need to keep security configurations up to date on every computer. For example, I strongly recommend that all telecommuters connecting to the corporate VPN be supplied with a company-owned computer. When you think about it, this really isn't a major investment these days. A basic system is all most telecommuters will need. Hot P4 machines from Dell are suitable even for most advanced users, but cost under $1,000 for a complete system.
Giving the company ownership of a computer will eliminate a plethora of potential legal and management problems. For example, if the telecommuters work on their own systems, how does a company either demand that they upgrade their hardware or software or enforce such a demand?
As part of this company ownership, it becomes simple to require that the computer be used only for company business. This eliminates all the problems of mixing personal and business activities and files, as well as keeping a four-year-old from wiping out critical files.
Some people will object that it is an imposition to have a company computer that they can't use for anything else, but there is a simple, elegant solution to this: Install removable, swappable hard drives. This provides an inexpensive way to manage telecommuters, because you can require them to bring the drives to the office for regular scans. Since they will suspect that you can easily detect out-of-policy use of the computer, it provides a strong incentive for them to obey the rules. It also makes it easier to maintain both software and utilities as well as to enforce regular backups.
Installing a removable hard drive costs about $200 per computer, including the new hard drive, brackets, and labor. That doesn't include the cost of the OS and applications, but those would be needed anyway. The other option is to supply laptops to telecommuters, but laptops are more expensive and are also attractive theft targets.
If every telecommuter has the same basic PC configuration at home (based on the company's standard software image), and the IT department maintains an identical configuration, it will be simple to troubleshoot and maintain both the drives and the complete systems. A much more complex task is to remotely manage all those telecommuters' systems via the network. But where that is appropriate, corporate ownership of all the hardware and software is even more essential.
In either case, if removable drives are used, it's easy for the company to essentially offer a second PC for personal use by designating one hard drive for business use and a second drive for personal use. Remote users should be responsible for their personal drive, which will probably include games, family software, and so forth.
This setup eliminates the complaints about having a separate business and personal computer both taking up space in the home. And since you need to power down a system to swap drives, it keeps the corporate and home software completely separate.
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