Touro University International
ITM501 - Management Information Systems and Business Strategy
Module 3 Case Assignment: Network Threats
21 June 2010
Interconnection of work and home computing
Employees may bring computer viruses to work from their home computers, just as they bring germs to the office from their home. In both cases, the only necessity for infection is contact with an infected source, to a willing host. In both cases, basic sanitation can help prevent the spread of disease. However, in the case of a human disease, the employee likely has immunity to many common illnesses and practices basic sanitation both at home and in the office environment (hand washing, covering the mouth when coughing).
In the case of a computer virus, extra protection is needed. The employee may or may not be willing to pay for that protection. While he may not care about his home system, or feel the effects of a small-scale network attack, he brings work home and back to the office on portable media (thumb drive, CD, external hard drive) or through company resources online such as e-mail attachments, FTP servers or any web page that accepts documents from users.
Because information is introduced easily, and often from home to work, it is in the company's best interest to help provide an additional layer of protection. That protection could come in many forms; prohibiting outside material from entering the company network, requiring virus scanning of all new files, or providing anti-virus software to employees for free.
The first notion, to eliminate all incoming digital material, is not only impractical, but also demoralizing to employees, who will feel they are not trusted and perhaps even violated (depending on method of searching for electronic devices). Additionally, by not allowing employees to work at home, there is a chance...