The IT world has special needs when it comes to security (specially since everyone's a hacker now). However, in order for you to remain a productive employee there are certain elements you simply need to have at your disposal. How would you react if your employer tells you one day, out of the blue, that the following security policies are going to be enforced in the near future?
- No cellphones.
- No Internet.
- No USB storage device of any kind (this includes iPods).
No cellphones? Even if their argument is that modern cellphones have cameras and, ergo, pose a high security threat, it'd be ridiculous to assume YOU -- the developer who created the code and know its inner workings like the palm of your hand -- would have to resort to take pictures of your screen to STEAL your OWN creation! Now, don't you dare thinking I'm being fanatical here. I expect to have my own company one of these days and I'll make sure certain conventions and rules are in place to protect the company's intellectual property. But, the aforementioned "rules" are prejudicial to any company and its employees' performance (we're software engineers! We're not a call center!).
Just in case you're wondering: NO, neither I, nor any of my fellow co-workers, have access to customer's information (which is, of course, extremely sensitive). This shouldn't come as a surprise to me though (I knew something of this nature would come along when they announced their intentions of scanning all inbound / outbound email messages).
I wonder if Google's, or Microsoft's, employees are subjected to these borderline policies. Maybe they're under surveillance 24/7...
5 comments:
In my opinion, one of the thing that cause the biggest security breach in a company is the dissatisfaction of the employee. yes security is a main concern, but trying to implement such nonsense security policy only hurt the business. why? well it hurts the employee, and the one who is making the product for the business is him/her. everytime companies are about to implements such a policy, they start following statement "now let me read what the customer REALLY wants..." WTF?
The question is: Would you continue working for them on such terms?
Those are the kinds of things that kill any and all feelings of happiness or commitment to the company. You know the feeling: you start losing creativity, eventually you just see your work as a 8-5 burden that you must acoomplish everyday because you still need to pay the bills, you start to get pretty sour with some of the people around you... you lose interest.
This is the thing drones are made of.
think about tax collectors. Lets fuck the ones that are paying instead of going out to catch the ones that are not paying.
That is the rule of the middle class.... In general if I want to stole data from a company I'll find a way to do it. So why bother you that doesn't wants to stole the data?
what is the best security policy? none if your people are happy why will they steal from you?
IMHO, when so rigid decisions like that are taken by a company, in a fast and rigurous way without before interacting with its main resource "employees", then, i think there are problems.
As a rule of thumbs: A relationship company-employee, must be a WIN-WIN relationship, all must be happy. If employeers are happy, employees must be happy too :)
If decisions like that ocurrs in IT companies, where there are avids youngs software engineers/developers, then there is a great problem, one of two peers will break the handshake agreement in whatever moment....IT companies must LOVE that their employees be updated with latest technology and be creative.
The most afected ones will be the company, because they will stop for a while employee's creativity and updated practical knowledge that these can gain with technology tools like advanced media cellphones and whatever other tech device.
If this is occurring ;), then relationship company-employees will collapse....Employees must do their work, continue working hard...and continue looking ahead for new job opportunities.
If this is happening in a NOT RICH country, employees must be wiser, and finish his "session" in the best possible way....in order to not to get international bad coments about the country.
Without a place of any doubt, the great loosers will be the employeers...unless, they be looking for an obscure and misterious benefit with this.
Ok, the simple tiny thing that I dont understand, is that you work for a company in which this instruments are a must!.. I mean.. cellphones, unless you are chained to your desk 24/7 how the fuck you are going to be reached?.. What else, USB... hello!.. so if you have a big meeting and you need to show some slides, what.. TOILET PAPER?!.. And hello.. USB's are a must if you are a fan of Heroes, 24, Lost, Prison Break, Gilmore Girls (kidding of course)... etc.. since thats the only device that you will require to take the latest episode home and enjoy it... Call me crazy (at 1-800-CRAZY) Or better yet.. hire me!.. I can use some wakamole...
In all seriousness, employeers should provide a comfortable space for their people to work in, yes, there are security breaches, there are precautions to take, but when you take such important day to day gadgets, you are just provoking anger and dissapointment, which usually ends up in employee unsatisfaction, and royal pain in the ass. And in the end of the day, you are not dealing with androids here... this are flesh and bone human beings with personal needs. A job defines a person, and the satisfaction someone has, its one of the most important things, you have to proud of the place you work in, and actions like these, taken by a group of insufficient-know-it-alls, makes me understand that some employeers just have NO idea in how to deal with the people they hire. Gah!..
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