Keeping a folder/directory private

[Steve Doman]

I been keeping source code on my workstation and place compiled code for coworkers on our network. I'm concerned that someone my be able to copy my source code either by logging onto my station as an Administrator, or somehow via our network.

I am not much of a Windows expert so was wondering if anyone had some tips on keeping a folder private? Is there some way to lock a folder or make it password protected? Or is there someway I can detect if someone is snooping into my computer?

I'm running A2K2, WinXP Pro, and NT4 server. Just want to keep my hard work from being stolen. (In case anyone is going to flame me, this is code owned by myself - not by the company.)

I'd appreciate any helpful comments.

Thanks,
Steve Doman

 

[Walt Engle]

YOU HAVE A PROBLEM. this is not intended to frighten you, but ANY of your private code that is on a company computer is considered company property - and no longer is owned by you.

My suggestion? Delete it immediately. Make sure what you deleted is written over. Keep your code on YOUR private diskettes and if another person in your company needs to use it, LOAN the diskette to him/her. Make certain your tell him/her you are only LOANING the use of the code one time ONLY. Otherwise, you will probably lose all rights to your private property.

 

[dean_bourke]

Get yourself a USB Flash drive. It will hold a heap more than a couple of floppies.

 

[wallyb]

go to explorer and right click on a folder. properties tab. sharing and security at the bottom. should get 'help and support center'.

 

[TCEBob]

go to explorer and right click on a folder. properties tab. sharing and security at the bottom. should get 'help and support center'.

You can't keep administrator out through this option. What Steve would need would be a way to make the folder invisible -- even to those with admin. privileges. A thumb drive is good but they have a nice bright green "on" light when inserted and unless Steve has a front accessible port he will probably have to stand on his head to connect it. (which is why I bought an extension.) Good ol' 3 1/2" floppies are probably the best bet.

I'm a bit confused, though, Steve. You are putting utilities on the network for coworkers, but the Administrator doesn't know it? What makes you think he/she cares or will ever snoop?

Rename the folder "\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates\{812034D2-760F-11CF-9370-00AA00B8BF00}." Trust me, nobody will peek. Oh, call the files 05738357.xgq.

rs

 

[Walt Engle]

I certainly agree a USB drive will hold a world of things, BUT for individual lsp routines or other code that is copyrighted, it is better to have just one or two on diskettes and to loan the diskettes out. Otherwise, having everything on one invites trouble. I would also encrypt my lsp routines (don't know about other code) so some sneaky person couldn't copy it and change it to his/her delight.

 

[Andrew McDonald]

Stealth Disk Pro will hide everyting you need, files, folders access from DOS, Control Panel installations, absolutely everything, quite an amazing program. You can configure user hot keys to gain access to the controls.

http://www.invisicom.com it was down when I checked.

Regards
Andrew McDonald

 

[Steve Doman]

Walt and Dean,

Thanks for the heads up! I've got a zip drive that uses 250mb diskettes. I could put the files there, but couldn't someone access this drive from the network somehow?

Regards,
Steve Doman

 

[Steve Doman]

TCEBob,

Our Network Administrator is fully aware of my AutoCAD customization and I'm sure doesn't care about my source code. Sorry, but I can't publicly go into any further details. Perhaps I'm just being paranoid.

I like the obscure folder naming idea. A folder that was invisible to others would be perfect. As I said in my reply to Walt and Wally, I got a zip drive but am not sure how secure that is.

Thanks,
Steve Doman

 

[Steve Doman]

Andrew,

Thanks for the link. It was down when I checked too. I'll try again later.

Regards,
Steve Doman

 

[Tony Tanzillo]

Low tech solution: Zip everything with a password.

 

[Jaime]

im sorry but no matter WHAT you code...it can be recreated by anyone who wants to bad enough....if they use it once and see that it does..
1. change some vars
2. inserts a block
3. chagne vars back
whats to keep them from comming here and going "i have to write a lisp that does the above 3 things will anyone help?"

Jaime

 

[Mark Propst]

Hi Walt,
you said,
"Make sure what you deleted is written over."

Curious about how to do this. Do you have a way to get the memory addresses of all segments of a file to be deleted, and then a way to reset those addresses?

 

[Rudy Tovar]

" this is not intended to frighten you, but ANY of your private code that is on a company computer is considered company property"

So that means if I put my glassess on the company table or leave my lunch in the drawer, that it now belongs to the company?....or how's about my books, my radio, my laptop??....

I posted not to long ago a review of this, but you have to view it as a reminder of what people may assume to be true, in reality is not so.

I mentioned that not long ago we used drafting tables, with our own tools, like a compass, templates, curves, etc. Did this mean that they belonged to the company once we were dismissed? or if I lent one to a co-worker, they automatically became company property? Isn't our nowledge power and education, and utilities the same as our own tools? Do companies now have the power to take when it was our time to invested? This now takes on a new legal battle. Some will argue that we did it on company time, but I would disagree. Does this mean if I made a sandwich that it now belongs to the boss, because I prepared it at work durring lunch?

I guess it viewed as, "...only if it benefits me, the company." of course greed....

 

[John Crocco]

The reason you work is property of your company is because it is assumed that your work in your computer was done while at work being paid to work, thus anything done on thier time is their product.

If you invent something at a company, even by accident, but being paid by them at the time, it becomes their property. You can try to hide that fact, but should it come to light, they could sue you for it.

Your drafting supplys are yours "UNLESS" the company bought them for you.

Ideas arent bought, they are created, and if created on company time, belongs to the company.

If these codes were done on company time, it belongs to the company. I did this for muy company, and when a coworker left and went to another company, the owner told me to specifically NOT allow him access to autocad codes, etc, EVEN if he called me to do it on the side.

If you dont like that fact, then dont do it at work. Code is code, and alsways can be recreated differently to do the same thing. I wouldnt make a big deal about it, make a backup copy, and take offsite.

 

[Andrew McDonald]

I agree whole heartedly.
The "company" doesn't own you and/or what can be considered your intellectual property. Did they pay for your tuition at college to learn how to do THOSE things, no. Then they do not have the right to "claim ownership" outright of ANYTHING that you may develop. At best it should be considered joint ownership. If you have a thought during your lunch break and scribble down ideas on a piece of paper and then that paper is seen by someone else and further developed, who then owns the right. The whole situation is becomming a joke. This is just another disgraceful attempt by some people to make financial gain by claiming ownership of something that they could not of otherwise done themselves.

This is my thoughts only, and I don't really care what others think. I have highly customised Autocad for several companies I've worked for and all have agreed that more than anything, they are grateful for someone's help who has a bit more knowledge than themselves to achieve a more productive cad environment. I take my customising with me from job to job, and stiil update and help companies I have worked for in the past, all without any animonisity or claim of ownership. This is something we do to HELP each other. Any company I work for I don't even charge for the customising I've done in the past, because it is done in good faith, knowing that all will benefit.

Once again my opinion only, and this has worked well for me in th past.

Andrew McDonald

 

[Luis Esquivel]

i had ask this before to a lawyer (not a expert in the copyright stuff - but for forensic architecture), what he mentioned was that only if you are hired to work as or if is described in the daily duties, the ownership it will be of the employer unless a separate agreement is sign to both parties ownership.

 

[Andrew McDonald]

What a nice simple solution.

Makes you wonder if you'd sign an employer/employee agreement that said anything done at work belongs to work !!!

 

[Tom Smith]

Walt is correct. Your company probably already owns your code, if you have been creating it on company time, using their resources, as part of your job description. There are exceptions to this, but without getting all legalistic, the common sense of it is that if they pay you to do it, then it belongs to them. And no, you're not a co-owner. You might be infringing on THEIR copyright by trying to make the source code unavailable to them.

This doesn't apply to every thing you do. If you write a song on your own time, it's yours. If you bring in a drafting tool to use, it's still yours. If you have a bright idea at work, and then pursue it on your own time, it's yours to get rich from. It's not the fact that it enters the door, it's whether you did it as part of your employment. Luis is only part right: the company doesn't own *everything* you do while you're employed there, unless you signed an agreement to that effect. But they certainly own anything they paid you to do as part of your job description.

Put it this way: would they sign an agreement to pay you to create code, that only you could sell and use, that you exclusively owned, and that they weren't necessarily entitled to at all? I doubt it, since it would amount to giving you free money with no promise of anything in return. So why would you assume that's the unspoken contract you're working under? That's not how it is, unless you're in a place with very strange labor laws, or you have a very unusual written contract with them.

If you want to own and market your own code, do it on your own time, on your own computer, preferably on your own copy of Acad. There is no way that you will have clear, uncontestable copyright to your code if you create it on their payroll, for their use.

I compile "my" lisps, simply to render them difficult to reverse-engineer, and to incorporate some protection features. They won't run at all on other people's copies of Acad, or past a certain time frame. This is purely to protect the company's interests, since "my" lisps belong to them. The source code is in a folder where only a few people have access -- like me, my boss, and the IT admins. These measures are purely to prevent people from being able to distribute the company's programs without permission. I own the knowledge, not the code.

 

[ECCAD]

Do a DOS Shell, use the old hidden folder trick.
Begin the 'name' of a folder with a "."
This should hide it.
Bob