10.8. Securing data on a stand-alone computer

The most common cases that threaten data are accidental data erasure, software failure, and hardware failures. One of the first recommendations to the user is to back up data.

For magnetic disks there is such a parameter as the average time between failures. It can be expressed in years, so you need a backup.

When working on a computer, data is sometimes not readable due to the failure of the hard disk drive control board. If you replace the controller board and restart the computer, you can perform the interrupted work again.

In order to ensure the safety of data, it is necessary to create backup copies. The use of copying as one of the methods of data security requires the choice of software, the procedure (full, partial or selective copying) and the frequency of backup. Depending on the importance of the information, double backups are sometimes performed. Do not neglect and testing backups. Data must be protected in the case of a computer in a small network, when users use shared file server resources.

Security methods include:

• use of file attributes and directories such as "hidden", "read-only";

• saving important data on floppy disks;

• putting data in password-protected archive files;

• inclusion in the protection program of regular checks for computer viruses.

There are three main ways to use antivirus programs:

1) virus scan at boot time, when com *** and the launch of the anti-virus program is included in AUTOEXEC.bat;

2) start the virus program manually;

3) a visual review of each downloadable file.

A pragmatic method of ensuring the security of information on a stand-alone computer is password protection. After turning on the computer and running the CM08 setup program, the user can enter information twice that becomes a password. Further protection at the CMOS level blocks the entire computer if the correct password is not entered.

In the case where the use of a password is undesirable during boot-up, some keyboard models can be locked using the physical keys that came with the computer.

The ability to protect some files is provided for the user to work with office suites (word processors, spreadsheets, DBMS) and executing the save files command (Save As ...). If in this case you click on the Options button, then in the dialog box that opens, you can set a password that limits the ability to work with this document. In order to restore the original form of the data thus protected, enter the same password. The user can forget, either by writing it down on paper, simply losing the password, then there may be even more trouble than working without password protection.

Ways to protect computers that work autonomously or as part of a small network, at home or in the office, are quite diverse. When choosing a strategy for protecting information on a computer, it is necessary to find a compromise between the value of the protected data, the cost of providing protection and the inconvenience that the protection system imposes on working with this data.