The Remote Control Conundrum

Sometimes, something that's really good turns out to be really bad--or at least a decidedly mixed blessing. The remote control functionality included with some current communications software is like that.

With Windows 95, Microsoft added significant connectivity functionality to the operating system by rewriting the entire communications architecture. One function Microsoft didn't build in is remote control, leaving a big hole that third-party vendors are beginning to fill. Programs such as Symantec's pcAnywhere32 (re viewed here) as well as Traveling Software's LapLink for Windows 95 and Avalan Technology's Remotely Possible/32 now enable extensive rem ote control capability.

But is this a good thing? It's easy to be seduced by added functionality and forget that there are important security considerations. For example, my desktop PC is connected to the BYTE office LAN, and it also has a modem connected to it. At the present time, this LAN has no standard method for outside access (though that's in the works). But there's nothing to prevent me from setting my modem to auto-answer, activating remote-control software on the PC, and dialing up the modem from home with my notebook computer. If I do that, I get instant access to whatever resources, such as CD-ROM drives and network servers, are connected to that PC. That's a real convenience. But it's also a gaping security hole, especially if I leave that unattended PC logged into the network.

The remote control software that I've installed has password-based access control, but that's hardly the last word in security. And what if I forget or choose not to activate it? Most organi zations won't want to risk exposing their data and their computing systems this way. Remote convenience or real control: That's the choice you have to make when you install a remote control product.