Secure Files

At university, the operating system we used was Linux, and although there was a graphical user interface, we were always encouraged to use the command line. For some people, this was very uncomfortable, and often people didn’t really understand the commands they were typing.

Sometimes we were assigned group coursework, so someone took the lead, and then changed the permissions on their folder so that their team could access it.

The thing is, people didn’t understand what they were typing, or cut corners. This meant that some people gave access to EVERYONE to access that folder. Others granted access for EVERYONE to ALL FOLDERS.

I reported this as an issue because someone could then grab people’s code or written reports, change a few lines and submit it. Easy. It could even be a privacy concern if people have personal files saved on the university system. If you were given permissions to modify, you could delete their files.

The IT guys told me that changing permissions was an allowable feature and it is up to each student to grant the correct permissions, so they rejected my concern. 

They could have at least put out a mass email telling people to check in order to alleviate the potential damage.

The good thing was that when I wasn’t sure of what to do on future coursework, I could then check this new source of information for inspiration. 😀