Common Reasons, Risks, and Deterrents for Sharing Accounts

Many people share accounts because of financial reasons, personal reasons, or
because it’s easier than setting up a separate account for every person in the
house or business. Unfortunately, by sharing accounts, you are taking a great risk
with others accessing your information and being able to modify files and your
computer.
People often share accounts because there is a level of trust between them.
You might trust a friend, family member, or coworker enough to share your username
or password with them. In doing so, they can access everything you can,
modify your data, and change whatever settings you have access to. If that person
shares your account with another person that they trust but you don’t, then personal
information can easily fall into the hands of this individual, putting your
identity at risk of being stolen.

In the case of accounts used to access the Internet, many home users and
businesses might find it too expensive to purchase separate accounts for each
person. However, even though it might be financially unfeasible to get a different
Internet account for each person, you should still set up separate e-mail accounts.
Additional e-mail accounts can be purchased from an Internet Service Provider
for a low price. By setting up separate e-mail accounts on e-mail programs, you’re
preventing another person in your house or business from viewing private information
that might be transmitted through e-mail messages.
A common reason that colleagues in businesses might share their accounts is
because it’s easier than having security settings changed or new accounts set up.A
business might have one person temporarily performing the job of another
person, or a temporary employee might be hired to perform certain tasks.To do
this, they need the same network security access. Rather than putting in a request
to the network administrator to set up a new account or change the existing
security settings of the temporary employee, employees give their username and
password to the person. Unfortunately, even after the temporary employee moves
onto another job or leaves the company, the person still has the necessary information
to access your account.
A number of risks are involved in account sharing. Depending on the type of
account, someone could access personal files saved to a network server, change
the environment settings of your computer, or send threatening or unsuitable
e-mail messages to other people.When you share your account with someone,
they not only have the ability to access the same information as you but they also
have the ability to pose as you.
Creating accounts for each person who uses a computer or network is the
best method of controlling who can access what. By providing an easy and efficient
policy for new employees, and creating accounts in a timely manner, you
create an atmosphere that encourages people to acquire their own accounts.You
can also create a Guest account with limited access, which enables people who
have yet to acquire their own account limited access to the system.
A common method many networks use is to set a policy that forces each user
to change their password after a set period of time. For example, a company
might force users to change their passwords every 90 days. If anyone has access to
an account, they won’t be able to use it after the password changes.
When deciding whether to pay for additional Internet and e-mail accounts
with others in your home, you should realize that the benefits of multiple
accounts far outweigh the costs. Using an e-mail account that’s separate from one
your child or spouse uses will keep any messages you receive private. It will prevent
others from responding to messages with your account and posing as you.
The last thing you want is your child sending a nasty message to your boss, using
an e-mail account that show’s your name as the sender. Using separate dial-up
connections will also enable you to maintain an element of privacy and prove
which sites were visited by you.As we discuss in later chapters, your Internet
account can be used to show which sites you visited and when. If your teenaged
child decided to use an Internet connection provided by your company, you
wouldn’t want to explain why an account meant for you was being used to access
inappropriate sites.
While we fully discuss the risks of sharing accounts in Chapter 6, you should
understand that multiple accounts can be created for Internet connections, e-mail
accounts, and even accounts used by your operating system.This is handy in your
work environment as well as within your home.