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: ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º User Identification ³ Menu File ³ Run! ³ Security ³ Password º ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͹ º Bob ³ 300 ³ ³ 99 ³ û º º Brenda ³ 299 ³ A1 ³ 90 ³ û º º Melissa ³ 150 ³ A5 ³ 50 ³ û º º Kathy ³ 100 ³ B7 ³ 50 ³ û º º ³ ³ ³ ³ º º ³ ³ ³ ³ º º ³ ³ ³ ³ º º ³ ³ ³ ³ º º ³ ³ ³ ³ º º ³ ³ ³ ³ º ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͹ º Enter=Change Esc=Cancel F2=Save Ins=Add Del=Delete º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ 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: ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º Security Level 80 º ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͹ º Enter Password [__________] º ÌÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͹ º Enter=OK Esc=Cancel Ins 1 º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ 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