Understanding Security Levels In HDM IV Version 3 & 4
Hard Disk Menu IV version 3/4 offers a greatly expanded security
system compared to earlier versions. This is especially useful in
a business environment or on systems that are running a network.
When many users are involved and/or there is a need for security,
HDM's expanded security options can be very useful.
We recognize that many new or inexperienced users might find the
advanced security options a bit confusing. To enhance your
enjoyment of HDM and to eliminate frustration, this special
section is designed to explain the security options so that they
can be easily used and understood. We'll examine the Master
Password Table, the User ID Table, and see how they work by using
examples.
SECURITY OR NOT?
In setting up HDM the first thing you should decide is if you
want or need to use the security options. This is a case where
YOU have to analyze how your system is setup, who uses it, how
much experience they have, and the like.
You may want to run a completely "open" system. This would mean
that individual users would not log on using a password. All
users would use the same menus and have the same selections. It
would also mean that any and all users could access the Top Menu,
change menu options, Timed Execution, and so on. This would be a
system with no restrictions of any kind. Having this type of HDM
setup would generally assume that all users of the system were
"computer literate" -- that all users were comfortable with DOS
commands, etc. It would also assume that all users wanted to work
with the same menus, have the same colors, etc.
HDM comes with ALL security levels set to a default of "00". If
you want to have a totally "open" system than you need not change
any of the security levels. You will not need to use the Master
Password Table or the User ID Table.
SECURING YOUR SYSTEM
Another type of setup would be one that we could call "partially
secure." Perhaps this is a home computer that the family uses.
You are the primary user and the one who is setting up HDM. The
other members of the family are not comfortable with DOS
commands, directory structures, and the like. In this instance,
you might setup different menus for different family members. A
set of menus for yourself, another set for your wife/husband, and
another set for your children. Each user would log on and get
their own personalized menu.
You might also want to restrict their access to the Top Menu --
so that nothing could be altered accidentally. In effect, you
would be a "system manager" and would create a friendly HDM
environment for the rest of the family. This is a common type of
setup.
Let's take this last scenario and break it down into simple terms
as it relates to HDM's enhanced security functions.
THE MASTER PASSWORD TABLE
Load HDM and press F10 to access the Top Menu. Press "S" to
access the Security options. If you press "M" you'll access the
Master Password Table. This table displays the numbers 1 through
99 and allows you to have 99 different "security levels." The key
to working with "security levels" is this:
"With any given security level you can access all things that
have a security level equal to or LESS than your own. You can NOT
access any item that has a security level GREATER than your own."
Thus, if you give yourself a security level of 50, you can access
ANYTHING that has a security level of 50 or below. If you gave
the Top Menu a security level of 99, YOU would NOT be able to
access it! From the Master Password Table let's see how to set up
HDM safely for the "family" in the scenario mentioned above.
SETTING UP SECURITY
Based on the assumption that you are setting up HDM and that you
will be the "system manager" for our hypothetical family, enter
99 at the Master Password Table. You will be prompted for a
password. Enter a password that you will remember, but that no
one else will easily guess. You will be asked to enter the
password again to verify that there was no mistake. A password is
now "set" for security level 99. To access anything that has that
security level, a person would have to know the password that you
just assigned to level 99.
Access the Security section of the Top Menu again. Select "U" to
access the User ID Table. Enter a user name for yourself. Your
next option is to enter the number of the menu page that you
start at. You can then enter a menu entry that you want to
automatically run each time you access HDM. Next you assign
yourself a security level. Since you are to be the 'system
manager', give yourself a 99. In this way you insure that you can
access ANYTHING because there is no higher security level. Your
last option is to set a logon password. Using our example, you
would select a logon password for yourself. Once again you will
be requested to enter it again to make sure that there is no
error.
NOTE: Each individuals logon password is totally independent of
the password assigned to their particular security level. For
example, say you assigned a password of TEST to security level 99
in the Master Password Table. You can select any password you
like for your personal logon password. The password of TEST is
only needed to access functions that are protected by a security
level of 99. By using varying security levels you can restrict
what the other users can see and do. An example might be helpful.
Still using our 'family' scenario, let's say that you gave your
wife/husband a security level of 90 and each of your children a
security level of 50 when you set them up in the User ID Table.
The table might look like this:
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ User Identification │ Menu File │ Run! │ Security │ Password ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ Bob │ 300 │ │ 99 │ √ ║
║ Brenda │ 299 │ A1 │ 90 │ √ ║
║ Melissa │ 150 │ A5 │ 50 │ √ ║
║ Kathy │ 100 │ B7 │ 50 │ √ ║
║ │ │ │ │ ║
║ │ │ │ │ ║
║ │ │ │ │ ║
║ │ │ │ │ ║
║ │ │ │ │ ║
║ │ │ │ │ ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ Enter=Change Esc=Cancel F2=Save Ins=Add Del=Delete ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
You can see that each user has their own menu pages, each has a
different security level, and each has a logon password. You
might also note that everyone but you (the system manager) has a
menu entry that is automatically run when HDM is started. Now,
let's see how security levels can be used to restrict use of
certain items.
Let's say that in the security section of the Top Menu you
selected "Hide/Disable Top Menu" and assigned it a security level
of 20. (Remember, in order to do this you would have had to set a
security level 20 password in the Master Password Table) At the
same time you also selected "Top Menu: All Commands" and gave it
a security level of 80. What effect would this have?
With a security level of 50 your children could press F10 and see
all of the items on the Top Menu. This is because the security
level that 'hides' it is only 20. If they tried to actually
select an item, however, they would see this:
╔═══════════════════════════════╗
║ Security Level 80 ║
╠═══════════════════════════════╣
║ Enter Password [__________] ║
╠═══════════════════════════════╣
║ Enter=OK Esc=Cancel Ins 1 ║
╚═══════════════════════════════╝
This is because all of the Top Menu commands are protected by a
security level of 80. Thus, only you and your spouse, with
security levels of 99 and 90 respectively, could actually change
things via the Top Menu. To totally hide the Top Menu from your
children all you would have to do is to raise the security level
for "Hide/Disable Top Menu" to a level greater than 50 -- the
level held by your children. If you did this your children would
not even see the Top Menu, nor would they see the "F10=Menu" at
the bottom of the HDM screen. It would be invisible to them. You
and your spouse, on the other hand, could access the Top Menu at
will whenever either of you logs on.
SUMMING IT UP
Hopefully you can see how security levels can be used to restrict
access to only selected individuals. A good way to go about it is
to sit down and take a moment to plan out the level of security
that you want on your system. Determine if you want to restrict
access to the Top Menu, for example, by certain users. Decide
what security levels you want to use. In our example we set
security levels 20, 50, 80, 90, and 99. Once you have a plan, go
to the Master Password Table and 'set' the security levels that
you've decided on. You might want to jot down the passwords you
assign and keep them in a safe place. Once this is done you can
proceed to the User ID Table and create 'accounts' for all of
your users. Give security levels that are appropriate for each
user. With that accomplished you can go on to restrict access to
sensitive areas like the Top Menu using the security levels that
you created. One last thing.
Remember that "security levels" are just numbers. You could
accomplish the same things outlined in our scenario without
assigning a security level greater than 6. How? By using lower
numbers. For example, you could set the following security levels
rather than the ones we used:
Hide/Disable Top Menu = Security Level 1
Childrens Security Level = 2
Top Menu: All Commands = Security Level 3
Spouse Security Level = 4
Your Security Level = 5
Set up YOUR system in a way that makes sense to you. Remember the
basic rule about security levels, which is:
"With any given security level you can access all things that
have a security level equal to or LESS than your own. You can NOT
access any item that has a security level GREATER than your own."
Because HDM now offers 99 security levels does not mean that you
have to use them all. Plan the level of security that you want
and then implement it. If it helps, follow the 'family' scenario
given above. If you are puzzled and in doubt, ALWAYS set yourself
at the highest security level, 99. In this way you'll never be
locked out of anything and you can always make corrections.
We hope that this section has been helpful. It has been intended
to help new or inexperienced users who are unfamiliar with
setting up security levels. Business users and others will find
HDM's new enhanced security system even more helpful for
restricting usage throughout their systems. With HDM you can
restrict usage to individual menu entries, entire pages, and even
prevent menu pages from being altered.
Dr. File Finder
