Organisation and Control of Computer Operations Essay

The organisational structure of the company is quite straight forward and to the point and easy to understand. The company is split into two departments the computing department and Contracts team. Taira Zeb is the overall is the director of the company. Martin Gates is the Transport Manager of the daily operations team. He liaises with other companies to A2z Travel Uk Ltd can offer when they book with them. He explains to companies what special rates they can offer them if they book association or company booking outings. If the Company’s or associations are happy to sign any contract or booking with A2z Travel Uk Ltd he passes the contact details to the contract manager make them sign a contact or booking. The people working in Martin Gates team include: – * Wendy Gates (Contracts Manager) – the main role of Wendy Gates is to secure contracts and bookings also introduce discount under the authorisation of Martin Gates the Transport Manager. * Sandeep Uppal (Health & Safety Manager) – Bashir deals with health and safety issues within the company, and also liability issues whilst vehicles are in use by companies and groups. * Mohammed Zafreen (Head Mechanic) – deals with the vehicles checking them on a weekly basis checking for problems before they go to the outing it is booked for. Mohammed Zafreen is charge of checking if the all transport coaches are safe to drive on roads and all the paper work is up to date for example MOT, Car Tax before they are let out. Mohammed Zafreen also deals with daily maintenance for vehicles when he has the time to do so. * Asan Fazal (Assistant Mechanic) – deals with daily maintenance of the coaches on a daily basis. * Sandeep Uppal (Health & Safety Manager) – Sandeep Uppal deals with health and safety issues within the company, and also liability issues whilst its coaches are in use by A2z Travel Uk Ltd * Julia Wilson (Health & Safety Co-ordinator) -Julia Wilson works under Sandeep Uppal and deals with training in-house staff on health and safety issues under the guidance of Sandeep Uppal. The computing department is run by Asian Fazal who is the IT Manager. He deals with overall matters regarding hardware and software requirements for A2z Travel Uk Ltd, and is involved with all purchasing of hardware and software but before funds can be released to him the director must be with agreement with him. The people working in Asan Fazal team include: * Ahmed Hussain (Technician) -Tony deals with maintaining hardware/software with the company and resolve any network problems. * Andrew Dales (IT Security Manager) – deals with security producers and deals with viruses and have creped thought the network. * Praveen Patel (Backup Manager) – responsible for making sure all data has been backed up successfully the backup manger responsibilities ensure all backups are done daily and weekly basis and enforce backup procedures with in the company. The backup manager must ensure all backups kept in a safe place in a different location if for example all data was lost due to fire. * Wajid Gahni (Database Administrator) responsibilities include, database design, co-ordination and use of data integrity, up keep of data, and data maintenance to see if the data passed thought the database is not garbage. * Azard Amera (Security Assistant) she deals with daily security issues or given daily task to complete by the IT Security Manager * Frank Dean (Backup Assistant) responsible for backing up data on a daily basis every evening and reports back to the backup manager if he occurs any problems. He will contact the backup manager when a daily backup is co The Structuring 0f Computing Jobs Within The Organisation. IT Department Structure IT Manager – Asan Fazal Asian Fazal in A2Z Travel UK Ltd is of that to give support and guidance to the IT department on all computing issues within the organisation also chasing up things that the IT department need to do. Asian Fazal is responsible for work on internal projects and teams such as IT Security policies, hardware, software and backup policies. Asian Fazal has to enforce see policies otherwise there could be major Problems within the company. His job involves analyzing security requirements, evaluating safeguards, vulnerabilities, threats also opportunities. Asian Fazal job entails: – * Identify integration issues and develop solutions of computing systems within the company. * Coach and develop skills within a project team. * Lead project teams within the computing department. * Run the IT department to the highest standard. IT Security Manager – Andrew Dales Andrew Dales is responsible for all IT security integration issues within the computing network in the company, which include data Protection act, computer misuse act, IT security and privacy. Andrew Dales to deal with security breaches that has taken place also making high security risk into a low security risk. Andrew Dales ensures all passwords are used coherently and in accordance to the A2Z Travel UK Ltd IT Security and privacy policies. Andrew Dales deals with any seen or reported act of computer misconduct, and she ensures the company’s regulations of carrying out these procedures. Security Assistant – Azard Amera Azard Amera job involves assisting the Security Manager in security related issues. Azard Amera keeps on top of all the latest security, and virus software. Azard Amera has a list of jobs to do on a daily basis that he must complete. Azard Amera can take over the security manager role if he is sick or he can not attend for work Technician – Tony Seagull Tony Seagull who is the company technician manages, maintains and supports the company’s fundamental IT infrastructure. He is also responsible for the development of a completion of training programs for the users of the computer systems within A2Z Travel UK Ltd. Tony regularly comes to check the computers in working order on a weekly basis are as well as coming. He is also responsible for the hardware and software problems and any network issues that arrive. When the organisation decides to upgrade any of the hardware or software used the technician is responsible for carrying with the backup assistant if the work load is too much for him. The technician inputs ideas for what the company needs to the IT manager. Backup Manager – Praveen Patel Praveen Patel is responsible for backing up of all data used within the system. Back ups are carried out on a daily basis. (Every evening) These back ups are stored at the main site location. Weekly back ups are also taken from the system, these back ups are taken to a secure location off site. This is done so that if data is lost or corrupt at the main site, only a weeks worth of data is lost. Backup Assistant – Frank Dean Frank Dean is responsible for backing up data on a daily basis, and ensuring all security procedures are met. Database Administrator – Wajid Gahni As the database administrator Wajid Gahni has the responsibility and the role of: – – Co-ordinating the use of data in database management systems. – Providing support to the other departments. – Any changes made to the database must be approved by DBA. – Controlling access, performance, monitoring and tuning of the database. – Working with other computing team members to make sure the database is working to the highest performance. – This DBA gives different users different access rights to the system – The DBA resolves disputes that can occur with the Database. Privacy and Security Privacy â€Å"Privacy is the claim for individuals to be left alone, free from surveillance or interference from other individuals, organisations or the state†. (P59 lauden and lauden.) A2Z Travel.org has about 10 computers, which they use to keep personal data about all drivers, coaches, routes and customers. Therefore all access to customers and staff information within the company is restricted to those authorised to see it. There are formal procedures that are followed for the allocation of access rights to users such as using a secure password, never telling anyone your password, changing passwords regularly and making sure that no staff members write their passwords down, such data should be memorised. At A2Z Travel.org a single password is used so that users can log on to the system, this is secure as only members of staff have authority can log on to the system. An improved way of using passwords would be to assign each user with their own unique user name and password so that all unauthorised access is prevented. These passwords should be confidential and users removed from the system they leave the company. The company plan to implement a more secure password system in the near future to improve security. The use of data encryption would also be of great benefit to A2Z Travel.org, as this would prevent any data being accessed from any other software applications, this would also be necessary when setting up individual unique passwords to access the system. Privacy Software The most interesting thing that we found out while we were at A2Z Travel International was that the two directors, have their own computers, which they work on. The computers have a lot of software installed on it but the most interesting software that we found installed on the computers was the Privacy Guardian 3.2 for Windows. When we asked the directors why they only have this installed on their computers they told us simply because they do not want anybody to know which internet sites they use and visit. Apparently this is something to do with the contracts they have with other companies. The directors admitted that occasionally they would view the contents on colleague’s hardware, including cache, cookies, index.dat and history. Privacy Guardian ensures that all traces of Internet and computer activities are permanently erased and unrecoverable from the PC. â€Å"Privacy Guardian is a safe and easy-to-use privacy protection tool that securely deletes online Internet tracks and program activity records that are stored in your browser and other hidden files on your computer†. SECURITY The Security of a system is a combination of its ability to support: * System Availability * Data Integrity * Data Confidentiality It is essential that all information must be protected against unauthorised access, theft and physical damage. Access to data should only be allowed to members of staff with authority, there might also be certain levels of security so that particular members of staff can only access certain data. Therefore all data in A2Z Travel.org is kept in a secure locked office, with limited access. Backups of data are also kept on secure location off site for security reasons. Data protection act – The main objectives of the act are to make sure that any personal data stored in any computer related to a member of staff is accurate, used for only the purpose registered, kept up to date, and only available to those who are entitled to use the data. Any member of staff may ask for a copy of the data held in their record. It is a legal requirement to meet with the data protection act in any organisation, staff are also made aware of this and are given a copy of the companies data protection policy when they are recruited. CCTV – A2Z Travel.org is a 24-hour coach service and therefore all gates are kept opened for drivers to enter and emerge, and so the need for CCTV is essential. CCTV is also used within the office; this can help to audit users activities on p.c’s. For instance if there was a problem experienced and it could not be confined to a particular member of staff the CCTV system could be used to view who was using the system at a particular time. There is CCTV placed in several places such as inside and outside the office and in the coach yard where the coached are parked. Equipment security – In order to minimise the loss or damage the equipment within the company is protected from security threats and environmental hazards. Regular backup copies of data are taken on a daily basis, which is done by Charles Stewart (Backup Assistant). Master software and backup data diskettes are kept in locked cabinets when not in use and they are also stored in a different location. It is vital for master copies to be kept elsewhere as data that is corrupted or destroyed in case of fire or theft, which will result in losing weeks/months of work, cannot always be replaced. Any computer is at risk from damage or theft. Theft is becoming more and more common amongst companies and organisations. To avoid losing thousands of pounds on buying more equipment to replace the ones that have been damaged or stolen, A2Z Travel international have insured all their equipment in the company. This insurance cover will compensate for the repair or replacement of the equipment and software. The use of security ties and lock help to protect the companies’ hardware, this is necessary as a number of drivers are continuously entering and emerging from the office. Security tags are also used on all of the hardware so that the equipment is identifiable in the event of theft or loss. All of the equipment is also registered with the manufacturer so that they are identifiable from the serial number. To further improve security the use of metal casings and security locks on devices such as printers to prevent any other member of staff apart from the technician from changing consumables etc, this helps maintain equipment as members of staff without I.T knowledge may damage the equipment when attempting to change consumables etc. Viruses – A large risk faced by A2Z Travel.org is the possibility of downloading or receiving harmful viruses. There are a number of ways in which it is possible to contract a virus including the use of floppy disks, downloading data from the Internet or email. To reduce these risks it is the role of the I.T security manager to have an up to date anti virus software subscription. Even more important is the task of regularly updating this software as new viruses are regularly generated. Another security step taken by the organisation is to implement firewalls on all of the P.Cs used within the company. This helps to protect data and filter out any harmful files. The role of the technician includes updating all of this software and carrying out regular checks on all of the computers. Another precaution taken by the company involves completing regular windows updates on all machines used within the company. This keeps all Microsoft software up to date so that there is less risk of contracting any viruses or experiencing any problems with any software. Technical Security – This considers the security requirements, which are related to the technology within A2Z Travel.org in particular IT networks, systems and equipment. Topics that are involved include: Hacking – This is an act to penetrate computer systems to gain knowledge about the system and how it works. A hacker is someone who is interested in computer programming and things that are related to the technical side of a computer. The damage a hacker can do is change a password so legitimate users are denied access, can smuggle another program onto the P.C, can steal credit numbers to obtain goods and services and can crash a system. A2Z Travel.org uses up to data virus protection and Microsoft firewall applications to prevent any unauthorised access to the system. Bibliography http://www.indianest.com/computing/security/020.htm http://www.itbusinessedge.com http://www.etechb.co.uk/education/Docs/Technician_Phase1-summary.pdf Carroll, John Millar, (1987), Computer Security 2nd Edition, http://www.iseek.org/sv/13000.jsp?id=100047 http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id=34 http://www.pctools.co.uk/privacy-guardian http://mtechit.com/concepts/security.html http://www.pctools.co.uk/privacy-guardian