It’s actually quite simple. For the GNOME desktop there is a handy tool call Pessulus that allows you to lock down certain aspects of the desktop. I will warn you though, in order to get the most out of this you need to be using the Epiphany web browser as that is the only browser Pessulus supports. Remember, Epiphany is still the official web browser of the GNOME desktop – even though Epiphany isn’t installed by default on most distributions (go figure).

Installations

There are two tools you must install: Pessulus and Ephiphany. These are quite simple to install. All you need to do is follow these steps:

1. Open up your Add/Remove Software tool.
2. Search for “lockdown” (or “pessulus”) – no quotes.
3. Mark Pessulus for installation.
4. Search for “epiphany” (no quotes).
5. Mark Epiphany for installation.
6. Click Apply to install.

Depending upon your distribution, there may or may not be a need to install any dependencies. If there are, allow this.

Once installed you are ready to begin locking down the desktop.

Use

Figure 1

To use Pessulus click Alt-F2  and then type pessulus. This will open up the main (and only) window for the lockdown tool (see Figure 1). In this window there are four tabs:

General: Here you can disable general features for the GNOME desktop. Most notably is the ability to disable the command line and save to disk. This is ideal for a Kiosk or cafe situation.

Panel: In this tab you can disable force quit, you can lock down the panel, disable logout, and disable specific applets.

Epiphany Web Browser: In this tab you can disable quit, disable arbitrary URL, disable bookmark editing, disable history, disable javascript, disable toolbar editing, force fullscreen, hide the menubar, and disable unsafe protocols.

GNOME Screensaver: In this tab you can disable lock screen, enable lock on activation, allow/disallow logout, allow/disallow user switching.

One of the only issues you might find is that installing Pessulus actually adds a menu entry called “Lockdown Editor”. I would suggest you rename that menu entry to some obscure title so the user won’t have any idea what it does. If you completely remove the Pessulus menu entry you will have a hard time starting the tool as the disabling of the command line (in Pessulus) also disables the Alt-F2 run dialog. Of course you could opt to not disable command line and still have the option of using the command line to start up the tool. That depends on how secure you want that kiosk to be.

Final thoughts

Locking down the GNOME desktop doesn’t have to be a horrible challenge. Instead of going through the Gconf-editor, just use a tool like Pessulus to make sure your GNOME desktop is in a state of lockdown so the users can’t do anything you do not want them to do.

However, for the uninitiated, here is the lowdown: USB stands for Universal Serial Bus and cutting through all the technical stuff, all you need to know is that it is a type of technology that enables data transfer from one device to another which is equipped with a USB port. The USB port is the place where a USB device is inserted. It is by inserting a USB device that data is transferred. The most popular form of USB device is the USB flash drive, more commonly called simply a flash drive, or a pen drive. Flash drives are generally sold with different storage capacities, such as 1 GB, 2 GB, 4GB, 8 GB etc. For a short trip, data that can be fitted on a 4 GB flash drive should suffice, as it amounts to around 1000 songs, 3 to 4 movies, or a couple of games. For extra storage, one always has the option of external hard disks, but these come in much larger capacities such as 120 GB, 250 GB, etc. and are a bit expensive as well, so a normal flash drive serves the purpose and is more feasible.

Internet Cafe Considerations

While traveling, one cannot be assured of always having a personal computer. Though a few high end hotels provide personal laptops to guests, not everyone can afford to stay at such hotels. If you don’t have access to a personal computer, you have no choice but to go to a cyber cafe, or a public internet center where you use a computer for internet for a pre-paid price usually fixed per hour. Browsing at an internet cafe brings a mixture of many things that need to be considered. First, the computers at such centers are shared, and thus you never know which computer has some kind of malicious software installed on it. Malicious software may vary from key logging programs that track your keystrokes and send the information to the planter of the program, to computer viruses that will affect your flash drive causing the loss of data. This is one area where proper caution needs to be exercised or else you can kiss your flash drive, and most important of all, the data that is inside, goodbye.

Precautions

Most of the time, just taking simple precautions will help preserve your valuable data and protect it from getting lost or being misused. The two most common ways by which data is lost are by the tracking of your activity by malicious programs, and peeping toms behind your back, who are always on the prowl with hopes of getting someone’s password, or getting a hint of what you are doing. Most internet centers have computers in a row, and privacy is not ensured to a great extent. Though the incidents of people actually peeping at your screen are a rare happening, it does happen, and it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Also, as the computer is used by some random person after you, it is always better to keep the following in mind while using a computer at a public internet center. First, always log out of anything that the machine is logged in. This does not mean just clicking on the “log out” button and leaving. You must double check that you have logged out successfully. This simple yet very important step will help a lot to protect you. Also, many browsers offer an option to save the username and password data, be sure to uncheck all such options before logging in, as you do not want any other person to be able to access your information. Second, never leave your computer unsupervised for even a single minute.

If you have to leave, be sure to log out of everything and close all browser windows. Your leaving the computer unsupervised may result in strangers accessing your private documents and files, which you don’t want to happen. The third thing to remember is to clear all history and temporary files and downloaded files when you are through and before you leave. These can be removed by just checking out options of most browsers. The fourth thing to do is to make sure that online financial transactions are avoided at public computers. Because you will have to enter highly confidential data such as credit card number, it is not recommended to use a public computer for these activities. By following these simple precautions you will help ensure you have a safe browsing experience.

Protecting The Flash Drive

Now moving on to how to protect your flash drive, it mostly involves a basic step: password-protect your USB flash drive. Most people while traveling tend to insert their flash drives into every computer they use, thus increasing the chance of their flash drive getting infected by a high degree. The infection can be due to a virus or malicious software installed by a person wishing to access your private files. Also, if your flash drive gets stolen or lost, protecting it with a password will prevent others from getting access to your files easily. Protecting your flash drive with a password is a simple task. There are many free software programs over the internet that give you detailed instructions on how to protect your USB flash drive. These can be found by doing a simple search on any search engine. This easy step is a must in today’s highly dangerous online world and one cannot risk losing even a bit of one’s personal and sensitive data. Do it now. Password-protect your USB drives, use the above precautions, and have a happy and safe travel knowing that you are keeping your data secure.

The system administrator can monitor and record activity on all client computer systems. The default username and password are mouse and tikus. New user accounts with distinct rights can be created in the software program easily.

The admin interface itself is divided into different sections that include Internet, Printing and Reports among other sections. The Internet section opens the Internet monitoring system that displays the status of every computer system the client version of the monitoring software is running on.

A click on a system will display the current status (vacant or occupied), the IP address of the PC and additional information like the work duration on the system.

The Internet cafe monitoring software comes with basic remote PC commands. It is for example possible to send messages to one or several of the client PCs and to logoff, reboot or shutdown the client PCs.

MC3 Cyber Cafe Software is an easy to use monitoring software program that is best suited for Internet cafes. The administrator might need some time to get used to working with the software program as it offers functionality that goes beyond Internet connection monitoring.

The Home version which can monitor four client computers is free to use. Other versions are available for a price that can monitor more client systems.