Via StoreFrontBacktalk -
Dell will introduce next month a multi-function kiosk that is designed to change function throughout the day, being used perhaps in the morning to check items in at the loading dock before spending the afternoon as a customer-facing pharmacy information booth.
The as-yet-unnamed 12-inch touchscreen units will likely list for about $1,300 to $1,800 each and will use power-over-Ethernet, said Brian Slaughter, Dell's director of retail.
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Perhaps it is just me, but suggesting that employees share "computers" with customers (in the same day even) doesn't sound like a good idea (from a security standpoint).
Hopefully those employees aren't accessing or inputting any data that the company deem as sensitive.
This would be pretty simple with the use of logical isolation. Before and after work hours, the firmware disables the customer interface and logically isolates the resources used by the customers. Visa-versa during business hours.
ReplyDeleteIf the host OS doesn't know it's (resources) there and can't talk to it, the resource can't be abused.
The rub is that you're not going to find this kind of technology or capability on a $1500 computer.
Sure, there are measures that can be taken to reduce the risk...but to me, it seems like you are adding an unnecessary risk.
ReplyDeleteGiving customers, perhaps malicious customers physical access to the system could be dangerous (just look at all the voting machine issues).
In addition, where is the machine getting its data? From any external source most likely. Perhaps a shared external database instance?
You see where I am going with this...