Chapter 6 — Operating systems and virtualization | Technologist Privacy and data protection

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Chapter 6 — Operating systems and virtualization

Lesson map

Lesson 06 published. Map, example, EX016.

flowchart TD
  N0["Learning outcomes"]
  N1["6.1 Club computers"]
  N2["6.2 Virtual machines"]
  N3["6.3 Local data"]
  N4["6.4 Updates"]
  N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4
  N4 --> EX["Worked example"]
  EX --> Q["Exercise EX016"]

Logical drawing

flowchart LR
  N0["Learning outcomes"]
  N1["6.1 Club computers"]
  N2["6.2 Virtual machines"]
  N3["6.3 Local data"]
  N4["6.4 Updates"]
  N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4 --> Q["EX016"]

[Learning outcomes]
    |
    v
[6.1 Club computers]
    |
    v
[6.2 Virtual machines]
    |
    v
[6.3 Local data]
    |
    v
[6.4 Updates]
    |
    v
[Worked example] --> [Exercise EX016]

Learning outcomes

You will (1) secure club computers; (2) understand virtual machines and isolation; (3) manage local data.

6.1 Club computers

Club reception computers run booking and door software. Aisha finds shared administrator accounts and saved member exports in download folders. She recommends individual accounts, removal of admin rights for reception staff, and automatic clean-up of downloads. She explains that operating system settings protect personal data even when applications are secure. She also finds that the booking software stores a full member export each night in a temporary folder that nobody empties. The software vendor confirms that the folder can be set to clear automatically. Aisha asks the vendor to make clearing the default for every club, rather than relying on each manager to remember the setting.

6.2 Virtual machines

Quayside's head office runs several services on virtual machines in the cloud. Aisha learns that virtual machines isolate workloads but share hosts. She checks that the membership database runs on its own virtual machine with restricted network access. Isolation reduces the spread of compromise and keeps member data separate from less critical services. She reviews the cloud firewall rules and finds one rule that allows any address on the head office network to reach the database port. She narrows it to the two application servers that need it. She explains that isolation only works if network rules match the design, and that rules tend to widen over time when people fix urgent problems.

6.3 Local data

Aisha searches club computers for local copies of member data and finds old spreadsheets in three clubs. She works with managers to delete them and to use the central system instead. She notes that local copies escape retention rules and access controls. To understand why the copies existed, she asks the managers. They explain that the central system was slow on Monday evenings, so they kept lists for quick lookups. Aisha reports the performance problem to IT, because deleting copies without fixing the reason would only cause new copies to appear within weeks.

6.4 Updates

Aisha checks update status and finds two club computers months behind. She sets up automatic updates. Mr. Reilly notes that unpatched machines are a frequent route for attacks and that patching is a basic measure under Article 32. She lists the software on each club computer and finds an old document viewer with known vulnerabilities. It is removed because nobody uses it. She records the update status in the inventory so that future checks can compare against it, and she asks IT to report monthly on any club computer more than thirty days behind.

Worked example

Aisha removes shared admin accounts, isolates the membership database VM, deletes old local spreadsheets and enables automatic updates.

Synthetic case. Computers are synthetic; GDPR Article 32 is real.

Errors and limits

Automatic updates can break club software; test first.

Exercises

EX016 — Downloads clean-up. Why clean download folders on reception computers? Rubric: 3 = saved exports contain member data;; 2 = mentions exports;; 1 = vague;; 0 = none.
EX017 — VM isolation. Why give the membership database its own VM? Rubric: 3 = isolation limits spread of compromise;; 2 = mentions isolation;; 1 = vague;; 0 = none.
EX018 — Local copies risk. Why are local spreadsheets risky? Rubric: 3 = they escape retention and access controls;; 2 = mentions control;; 1 = vague;; 0 = none.

Continue studying — lesson 06 (chapter 06 of 30)

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