Need advice on setting up a user group security

[tboneman2]

I teach seniors to use PCs and Win 7. Recently the Senior Center upgraded to Win 7 desktops. Along with the upgrade, I learned, came permission for any and all members to use the computers (there are only 4) for $1.00 per hour. There are no controls whatever on users and what they do and where they go online.

It seems to me there ought to be some monitoring of user activity online. The good news is, it's a senior group, most of whom barely know how to turn the PCs on. I don't envision a large malware infection problem, as one might have if the users were teens.

Win 7 has built in tools to deal with this situation. I have installed Microsoft Security Essentials, Malwarebytes, and Firefox. I'm looking at browser add-ons such as HTTPS Everywhere, Web Of Trust, Ghostery, Better Privacy and Adblock Plus. I have most of these on my machines at home.

I don't want to create a big deal where there isn't one. At least not yet. These machines have to remain virus/malware-free if I'm to be able to use them for teaching. I'm wondering what your thinking is i.e. how much monitoring is enough, and how much is a violation of privacy.

I know I will be asked by the Board to make a recommendation. I'd appreciate your suggestions. Thanks.

Wes N

 

[UsernameIssues]

You might want to consider letting them stick with IE10 (with 64bit tabs - if possible)
http://www.sevenforums.com/news/294816-internet-explorer-10-provides-safer-browsing.html

I think that you will find that there will be few changes to IE10's user interface in the years to come than in other browsers. Keeping things the same is important. The fewer add-ons and plug-ins the better. Less to maintain.

You might consider asking the center pay for a service like OpenDNS. You can globally block (to an extent) websites from the network with that DNS service. If they don't want to pay, then local HOSTS files should work.

Make each user account a standard user... or only let them use the guest account.