Why do we have all this security rubbish

You may now enjoying a Server - Workstation environment, which may be a little different to what you are used to. To understand what this means, see the section on 'Hot desks'.

As a result, you will have been given a login name and password. This way you are given access to your data, and not somebody else's. However, some software, such as ACT, or Vision, will require you to log onto it as well as part of its security.

You may also be interested to know that your systems administrator can set you different levels of access. For instance he may not let you load software onto the machine. Whilst this may be a nuisance, it also has a couple of great advantages, namely, you don't need to do it, and two, he can't complain of you messing up the machine by loading software without his permission.

So Login name makes sense, but why have passwords? So that only you can change your data, though it may not be 'secret', it is laid out as you like it, and letting someone else use your password is a no-no. We have had a case where it has cost 5 hours to trace a serious problem due to a supposedly legitimate usage of a different person's password. This is because the 'owner' of the machine had no idea what had happened. It was only by chance that talking in the office, we found the 'interloper' had accessed the PC. By then talking to them, the cause was found to be 'human error' rather than a 'faulty machine' that would need replacing.