Theoretical Question - Public PC's & Viruses

jkkne

I'm not sure if this is the right forum so please move if correct.

Our charity at work is supporting a local charity and is looking to loan them some PC's and equipment for every day uses (job searches etc etc)

We've been advised by our external liaison team that either or us or the charity would be liable for any losses/claims if someone were to use these and pick up malware or a virus (ie - internet banking, identity theft)

I thought it was utter nonsense as I considered surely if that was the case that libraries etc wouldn't have any public equipment but it did get me thinking.

Surely someone couldn't/wouldn't sue a charity?!

AnnieO1234

Oh someone would, trust me. Morality doesn't exist in the world of litigation.

What you need is a proper statement drawing up that every user must sign that states you/charity do not accept liability for the problems. It's a bit like when you use a car park and are warned that the supermarket or whatever doesn't accept liability to vehicles parked there.

X

browneyedbazzi

As Annie said - but be aware that you cannot entirely disclaim all liability. If negligence or some action on your part causes loss to another party you can't simply point at Ts and Cs and say 'you agreed we're not liable'. You have to be able to show that you took reasonable steps to prevent the other party's loss.

Lots of places have signs up that say 'we're not liable for your losses' but that doesn't mean you can't sue them and win!

agrinnall

As well as the disclaimer you also need to do all you can to ensure that viruses, etc., are not present on the computers - a decent anti-virus programme that automatically updates its database (and preferably itself when a new version is available) and a spyware scanner such as Malwarebytes that should be run regularly (whether it can be easily scheduled to run I'm not sure as I run it manually, and the updates are also done manually). And Windows updates are applied automatically.

jkkne

Thanks all, had a chat with our IT guy this evening.

We have enough funding to supply 5 PC's, a printer and 6 laptops to the charity. They'd all have Windows 7 and Norton 360 (not our choice)

We'd just hate to put the charity in a position that would affect its insurance premiums (money that could be spent elsewhere - ie - its foodbank arm)

WTFH

Lock the computers down, create guest user accounts with no permissions, and hope that none of the people who come on here looking for compensation decide to use the machines!

Fosterdog

If it's for job search use then there is no reason for the users to go on any site that can accept transactions so the user account control/internet settings can be changed to allow/block certain sites. Basically block any banking sites and any other sites you don't want access to.

agrinnall wrote: »

and a spyware scanner such as Malwarebytes that should be run regularly (whether it can be easily scheduled to run I'm not sure as I run it manually, and the updates are also done manually).

The free version has to be run manually but the paid pro version does it all automatically

As for the norton 360 being on the machines, it's really not a bad security at all. It doesn't come top of the independent security tests but it's far from the bottom (last time I checked Bit Defender came top and 360 was in the top 5). People seem to hate norton because it slows the machine down, while that is true of the basic security (norton 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 etc.) the 360 is a very low profile security that uses next to no system resources compared to most others. I don't like the price tag but the two years I used it for I was perfectly happy with it's performance.

SerialRenter

Take a disk image of the hard drive before you send them off. When they come back, re-write the image to the disk and the pc's software will be identical to the state you gave them over as.

After you've taken the disk image, follow the advice of the other poster and lock down the PC's.

jkkne

Thanks All,

It looks like our Norton expired so we're going to use Avast, CCCleaner & Malware Bytes. We've adapted the computer policy at work adding disclaimers and warnings and they are going to install open DNS (?) to block out sites.

I'll be sure to come on here if we get sued! :rotfl::rotfl:

paddyrg

One other option is to set the machines up in kiosk mode - there are assorted free and payfor options.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2047173/resurrect-your-old-pc-as-a-public-kiosk-for-fun-and-profit.html
http://www.howtogeek.com/173562/how-to-easily-put-a-windows-pc-into-kiosk-mode-with-assigned-access/
http://www.linux.com/community/blogs/133-general-linux/728387-how-to-turn-a-pc-into-a-linux-web-kiosk
http://www.porteus.org/component/content/article/8-information/general-info/146-porteus-kiosk-edition-installation-customization-and-faq.html
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A-deRnd-u79EYf2HgnJUWVD_73YRZdA9t0opSSDs9yc/preview?sle=true

(none of the above are recommendations just examples - search for 'PC Kiosk' or 'Linux Kiosk' and you'll find more)

Basically it locks down just about everything which eliminates/minimises virus etc risks, and stops anyone installing anything by accident. Most public computers I've seen at libraries etc are a complete mess.