Yee gads! Is this a back door in Word 2003??

[Guest theeldergeek]

Just noticed one of our kids has enabled the "web" toolbar in Word 2003 which displays the path of any document they have open.

 

So, for example, they could have a document open and the path would be :

 

\\server\documents\yeargroup\pupilname\documentname.doc

 

now, if they amend that path back to say, thus

 

\\server\documents\yeargroup

 

...Windows Explorer opens a new window showing all the students document folders!!

 

We do have an Office 2003 'plugin' for Active Directory, but I can't see any way to disable or amend the way the web toolbar works.

 

The only thing I can think of at this stage, is to not install web components, but that may impact on kids learning using Frontpage as the web elements of Office are used.

 

Any ideas? So far we don't think the kids have got it sussed, so we need an answer on this one fairly sharpish methinks!

[kmount]

Assuming your permissions are set properly on the students folders there's no problem as they shouldn't be able to get into any bar their own.

 

This is nothing new, they could type \\server into the "File Open" box in virtually any application.

[Guest theeldergeek]

Assuming your permissions are set properly on the students folders there's no problem as they shouldn't be able to get into any bar their own.

 

This is nothing new, they could type \\server into the "File Open" box in virtually any application.

 

No, I know it is nothing 'new', but it is yet another way for students to see server names, directory structures etc which is my main concern - sorry, I didn't convey this very well in my initial post.

 

Most of these folders are hidden, but using this method, they can view almost any level they choose I fear.

 

Invariably, once they see as little as this, they will set to work to find a way in, in our experience. The more 'back doors' we can shut down, the better.

 

So, does anyone know a way to stop the web tool bar from showing? There really is no need for it to be there.

[Geoff]

Install the access based enumeration tool on your fileserver. That way the kids will not see files and folders they have no access to.

[Gatt]

Yeah we had this one with Word 2003 - in end we hid everything except for what was in their home folders - was the only solution

[Guest theeldergeek]

Install the access based enumeration tool on your fileserver. That way the kids will not see files and folders they have no access to.

 

Thanks Geoff; where is this available from, have to say we've never heard of it. Some clue would be useful

 

Addendum :

 

Found it

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=04A563D9-78D9-4342-A485-B030AC442084&displaylang=en

 

However, it's quite a dangerous tool, as it can (apparently) lock out administrators! We'll take a look nonetheless, thanks.

Edited July 11, 2008 by theeldergeek

[srochford]

The kids that are likely to cause trouble will not particularly be put off by the fact that the bar is not there. For example, they will probably have already spotted that when they go to open a file it shows something like "username on server\share" and will have tried exploring "server\share" by various different means.

 

As kmount has said, provided your permissions are correct, they can't get anywhere they shouldn't get to.

[Guest theeldergeek]

The kids that are likely to cause trouble will not particularly be put off by the fact that the bar is not there.

 

Well, we find it's the kids who happen across revealing 'features' like this that are the ones most likely to investigate further and cause us potential problems, although of course, there is that core element that will cause trouble no matter what.

 

I'm not worried about permissions, I just don't want the kids to see things like this, full stop. If it's not a back door, per se, that's good to hear, but it's still revealing far more than I think the kids should see. Far better to remove temptation than to whet their appetite with tasty morsels like Word is doing!

[Geoff]

Thanks Geoff; where is this available from, have to say we've never heard of it. Some clue would be useful

 

Addendum :

 

Found it

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=04A563D9-78D9-4342-A485-B030AC442084&displaylang=en

 

However, it's quite a dangerous tool, as it can (apparently) lock out administrators! We'll take a look nonetheless, thanks.

 

Only if you screw up your permissions.

[OutToLunch]

Just installed this and it's done a great job of tidying up the views of a lot of our public shares. Cheers Geoff! Am I right in thinking this is only affecting network views - ie by UNC/mapped drives, so in the event of accidentally losing something you could still browse the server locally and reset permissions?

[Silverman]

Also just installed that Geoff. Fantastic tool.

[azrael78]

Our kids don't get \\server\sharename when we connect their drives.

They just get the letter - no paths, no nadda.

 

For the most part - if they don't know the server names AND shares (as we turned off the browser service so they can't browse the domains) - then they can't just find this stuff out unless a member of staff unwittingly says something to them... hurrah.

 

Az