Question About A Communal Computer

This is one of these question where it's hard to decide which is the appropriate thread, but this seems as likely as any.

Here's my story.

I live in a multi occupied housing scheme in the UK, owned by a 'housing association', a sort of social landlord.

This scheme is for the over 60s and consists of 45 flats. We are provided with one communal computer to access the Internet, and for the past 12 years everything was fine. But then, without asking us, they changed the browser from Chrome to Edge, but much worse, they've set it to 'kiosk mode' which means the computer is effectively locked away from us. We can send and receive emails, but if you have a file on a USB stick you want to upload to the computer to send as an attachment, you can't. Same the other way round: if an incoming email has an attachment, you can't get it onto a USB stick and take it away. We can't convert an email to a text then put it onto a USB stick to take it away to be printed. If we want to include a link to a website in a forum post or an email, we can't copy and paste it - we'd have to copy out the URL manually. We had Chrome's adblocking extension, but now there's none, so there are popups all over the place (Edge has its own adblocker in Settings, but we're locked out of Settings). We used to each have a separate account using a unique password, meaning we could store stuff, but that's gone - we can't store anything now. If we see websites we like, there's no way of bookmarking them. In short, all we can do is surf the Web and do the most basic email stuff.

There were no problems in the 12 years or so before the change, but the housing association will not let us have things back the way they were.

So now I've come to why I'm writing this post. The excuse they're using is that the change is to protect us, but I've had so many experiences of this organisation being disingenuous in the past, I really don't know if I trust this explanation. Here is an extract from their email to me:


" There are routine upgrades done to all our computers usually for security reasons.

The changes you have noticed on it’s operating systems and the shift to Kiosk mode are for exactly that reason, to keep the computer and our residents personal data safe and secure.

Google Chrome will no longer be supported as a product from January next year and since June last year is only getting “necessary “ maintenance by Google. So like you we are all having to move over to Edge as our new browser, although you will find once you get used to it the functionality is exactly the same as Chrome. So we cannot go backwards and re-instal a product which is going to become a security risk soon.

I hope you will see that this is for the safety and security of all at [NAME OF HOUSING SCHEME] and [NAME OF HOUSING ASSOCIATION], which becomes ever more important every day."

My suspicion is that they could easily restore our access to the computer, and let us do all we could do before, without putting our security at risk (I don't like Edge, but that's not an issue). Frankly, I think their talk about security is just an excuse for doing something they want to do, regardless of what we tenants want.

I'll say one thing here as an example of why I don't trust them. When I made my first complaint, they forwarded a reply from their IT department. It mentioned the fact that the unwanted ads, now that we didn't have an adblocker, were a problem. They replied that there was nothing they could do about the unwanted ads, and that even the staff computers had them. I find that hard to swallow.

So my question is: could they change things back to the way they were before this change to Kiosk Mode, which we enjoyed for at least 12 years, without compromising our security?







Elizabeth

 

Hi Elizabeth.....Wow, a long time member, welcome back and good to see your print.

Cant you send the files across to your own cloud platforms and then load to USB on a personal PC?
You could do it from a smart phone using 4g or if no data, the Cafe or Macca's free WiFi?

The usb ports seem to have been disabled on the local machine you all share, with good reason security wise!
I have a USB security device that looks like a thumb drive, it runs a script that can fleece the target machine of all its vitals in 7 sec from plug in.

Welcome to the new world

 

Advertising is the Internet.....nothing can survive without it!
It brings the $$$ that feeds the beast

 

Sorry, my name isn't Elizabeth. That's the name of the CEO of the housing association who sent me that email - when I pasted it into the post, I forgot to delete it. Actually, that's the first time since they changed things that I've successfully copied and pasted anything.

 

Thats great Bruce!

 

This day and age, I would want my own device for regular web use. I would want to customize my own browser adblockers, anti-trackers, etc. As well, I wouldn't feel secure doing internet banking, investing, or even shopping on a communal computer! So I wouldn't even bother 'fighting' the association - I would simply just buy my own device.

Do you have Wifi access in your unit - or can you add this service if not? Otherwise, perhaps use the communal computer for general web browsing (nothing that requires logging in) and use your phone to do your emailing/banking/shopping?

 

Always be wary of entering sensitive information across a free WiFi network.
You dont know who is sniffing (listening).

Same call for the owners of the network......allowing your device, or anyones access could spell disaster if you had a backdoor intro placed on your phone unknowingly, from the last time you were connected to the airports free WiFi lets say?

 

As long as you dont do your banking from the live stick while networked.
Your still connected to the sniffed free network, installed OS or Live stick platforms, doesn't matter.

 

Cell phones are really just hand computers that make cell calls.
Its no different to doing banking on your desktop system over a browser.
Most banks today are very protection savy......2 factor auth is good.

I would prefer to relay my rather sensitive info through a security toughened browser, other than lay it across a poorly coded free app, however!

 

Indeed. Computers have been personalizing from desktop to laptop to hand held (and wrist)! The last two years excepting, I travel around the world for 5-6 months each year. So yes, I did banking, etc. in internet cafe's until around 2010's and with my cell phones after that. Far be it for me to imply that internet cafes and hotel wifi's are all risk free (they aren't!) - but a combination of minimizing device infection (by downloading only the apps you need and then only the most popular ones from legit sources), good computing hygiene, using good/unique passwords and 2FA's... keeps risks down to a reasonable level. Remember, pretty much all websites that ask for your account and password utilize "HTTPS" encryption. And banks, emails, SMS, social media, airline and hotel booking sites all have their own apps/encryption too. If all that isn't enough (to the point of the media parroting to never use public Wifi), then we have a far, far bigger problem that threatens the entire world's digital business, financial, and social connections! But we don't. Frauds are still mostly committed via email and text using social trickery.

Two decades plus of remote banking, etc. through "dicey" countries like Ukraine, Russia, China... I have encountered a total of three fraudulent transactions: two back-to-back bank withdrawals from Mexico in 2014 even though I only traveled through Central America (most likely ATM insider job) and one very recent (like just two weeks ago!) fraudulent credit card charge from Colombia just one day after I made a Colombian hotel reservation via Booking.com in the safety of my own computer in my own home using my own Wifi. My Colombian trip doesn't even start till Fall this year!

 

This is true, most scammers today are 'low-level intel' predator's who are mostly only capable of relying on phishing attacks across basic platforms for any success.

Dont underestimate the guy with the laptop, sitting over at the airport coffee lounge however!

The smart blackhats and network hackers are only after the large fish. You will rarely come across them in your travels, hopefully.
They work for government agencies or private contracting firms, and are not really fussed by what the common man has to offer.
Unless they discover that you have a 10 million USD online Bitcoin wallet.