Sorin Srbu wrote:

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-----Original Message----- From: centos-bounces@centos.org [mailto:centos-bounces@centos.org] On Behalf Of Tom H Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 1:03 PM To: CentOS mailing list Subject: Re: [CentOS] How to disable screen locking system-wide?

In our environment, leaving your desk without locking your computer/screen is punished with a disciplinary hearing and three such hearings result in dismissal. Having one person using another's account is considered a security risk.

Sounds kinda' harsh. May I ask what industry this is in?

Sounds pretty normal to me. I've worked for a variety of companies over a period of over twenty years, and similar policies were in effect in each one. At one company where I worked, possesion of another person's password was immediate dismissal grounds, though not automatic.

Any company which doesn't exercise "due diligence" to protect its trade secrets will lose when trying to recover from an industrial espionage incident. I know from personal experience, since I was at a company which went after another for theft of IP, and nearly wound up having to testify in court. A friend of mine did have to.

All employees were required to attend a seminar presented by the full time legal staff, explaining what IP is, and how it is protected. One thing we were told very forcefully was that we were to have good passwords (and what that meant), and that we were never to divulge our passwords to anyone else.

IANAL, but I suggest that anyone who has any intellectual property (patents, trade secrets, trade marks) get a lawyer to explain what they are, what the differences are, and how to protect them. They need different kinds of protection, and trade secrets, especially, are hard to protect without good, secret passwords.

Mike