No Multiple Windows or Tabs

Factual Questions
1

I work in a company where today we just got upgrade to Windows Vista. I figured this would be good, you know better computers etc.

For some reason our IT department has installed IE for a browser and will not allow multiple windows of any sort. If you hit File -> New you don’t get a new browser.

If you go to gmail and check your mail and try to hit Open in a new window. It opens in the same window.

The IT dept says it’s for security, but why? All it does it make it very difficult to do works. For example I process credit card transactions. If there is an issue I can go between the bank site and the credit card processing company. I can easily compare with two windows open.

Now I have to log into the banks site, then if I log into the credit card processer to check, I hit back on the browser and I’m logged out of the bank site…

Well you get the idea. I think the IT dept just screwed up. I understand not allowing pop ups but to allow ONLY one window seems ridiculous. Also our browser does NOT allow tabbed browsing.

So any idea what’s really up or what the purpose is?

2

Ineptitude.

3

Sounds like jackbooted stupidity to me.

I’d be curious to see why they think allowing only one browser window at a time enhances security. I’ve never heard of doing this before. As you’ve already noticed, it’s a significant productivity wrecker.

Sounds like you work for some sort of financial institution. FIs are known for being serious and paranoid about security. I should know - I work for an FI and I impose and enforce all sorts of security policies. However, my employer doesn’t impose some arbitary limit on browser windows like yours has done. I’ve often got half a dozen or more browser windows running - security would actually be compromised as I’d be either writing things down or taking screen prints all day long, and then at the end of the day, there’d be all sorts of sensitive information on paper needing safe disposal.

4

If your IT dudes really cared about security, they wouldn’t force you to use IE in the first place.

But doesn’t IE 7 allow for tabs? Or did that kill that option as well?

5

WAG: To keep people from having one work-related IE window open and ready to be called up to hide whatever they’re actually spending time doing.

6

IE7 in Vista has one built-in behavior that is different and legitimately security related. And it is kinda weird the first time you see it.

All websites (urls actually) are divided into security zones: internet, trusted, intranet, etc. This zone division is a feature of Windows, not just IE, for years. Prior to Vista, it affected things like JavaScript & ActiveX limitations.

Here’s the change: Vista will not let you have tabs from different zones open in the same browser. if you’re on, say an intranet site & open a new tab & go to Google, Vista will force open a new browser & put Google in there instead. Likewise it will generally not let http & https coexist in the same browser. I say “generally” because I use Vista only occasionally, while many of our people use it daily, & I’m not 100% solid on the details.

The idea is that IF the browser gets hijacked, evil code on one tab could see what’s going on on the other tabs of that browser, but would have no way to jump the gap to another browser.

Conceptually that’s a very sound approach. They’ve added several layers of difficulty to browser hijacking, and this last item also reduces the potential rewards of doing so.
I suspect somebody at your clueless IT dept saw that and said, well, if that new way is safer (which it is), the safest thing of all would be to prevent anyone from ever having two browser windows and/or tabs open.

Of course, even safer yet would be to confiscate all the power cords to prevent ever turning the computer on. Why don’t you suggest that to them …

7

My first guess was Oh yeah one window but tabbed browsing. But no, tabbed browsing.

As for security, you can get into any site. You can go to a porn site. You can download from the computer. If I was the IT dept I’d be more worried about people downloading songs.

We have a T3 line so it’s very fast and employees download songs (illegal and legal) because it’s qucker than most people have at home.

My solution was to go on my own website and create a webpage that will allow frames and I can log into many sites I just use each frame as a Google page and search and then click and enter so I have my own webpage with 6 frames all now on different pages.

Still the IT insists has to be that way.

It’s funny cause our office is right next to the public library and if you have a wireless connection you can bring in your own personal laptop and use the library’s wireless connection, it reaches into our office.