April 1st, April Fools

With April 1 coming soon, there's plenty to worry about if you're a security administrator. First off there's plenty of articles already floating around the internet, worrying about what the Conflicker worm will do on April 1st. The experts still aren't quite certain what, if anything Conflicker might do when it activates its payload. With that uncertainty, and the usual glut of viruses and practical jokes that occur on April Fools Day, the typical security administrator should have no lack of things to worry about.

As a part-time administrator myself (I do still manage all my home systems, and the systems of family members, even if I don't currently manage a corporate network), it still amazes me when one of my end-users asks me why a web page is being blocked. I'm amazed because the software I have installed on their system (the free K9 software from Blue Coat), says specifically why (spyware or malware source, or illegal/questionable) they are being blocked, yet the typical end-user wants to go to that site anyway (since it came up in a search of what they were looking for). With April 1st coming around the corner, I'll have to redouble my resolve to keep blocking bad websites. The corporate admin should never lose their resolve to keep their security in place.