Secure Implementation of Blogs, Wikis, and Second Life
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Project Code: MQP-BXT-0701 Secure Implementation of Blogs, Wikis, and Second Life A Major Qualifying Project Report Submitted To the Faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science Written By: Approved By: Angela L. Burrows Prof. Bengisu Tulu, Project Advisor Stephen J. King Stefan R. Rashkov Date: February 29, 2008 Sponsored By: Roland Cloutier Howard Hantman EMC Corporation TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Executive Summary ..............................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ vii Authorship ........................................................................................................................ viii 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................ 2 1.2 Objectives ....................................................................................................................... 3 2 Background ................................................................................................................. 4 2.1 EMC Background ............................................................................................................ 4 2.1.1 History ........................................................................................................................ 4 2.1.2 Products ..................................................................................................................... 4 2.1.3 Size and Global Presence ........................................................................................... 6 2.1.4 Internal Communication and Networking ................................................................. 6 2.2 Blogs ............................................................................................................................... 7 2.2.1 History ........................................................................................................................ 7 2.2.2 Business Uses ............................................................................................................. 8 2.3 Wikis ............................................................................................................................... 9 2.3.1 History ........................................................................................................................ 9 2.3.2 Business Uses ........................................................................................................... 10 2.4 Second Life.................................................................................................................... 12 2.4.1 History ...................................................................................................................... 12 2.4.2 Business Uses ........................................................................................................... 13 3 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 14 3.1 Qualitative Study .......................................................................................................... 14 3.1.1 Sampling Method ..................................................................................................... 14 3.1.2 Interview Protocol .................................................................................................... 15 3.1.3 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................ 16 3.2 Document Review ........................................................................................................ 16 3.3 Technology Review ....................................................................................................... 16 4 Discussion of Study Findings ..................................................................................... 18 4.1 Uses .............................................................................................................................. 18 4.1.1 Collaboration and Information Sharing ................................................................... 18 4.1.2 Human Resources Recruiting ................................................................................... 18 4.1.3 Internal Real‐Time Communication and Virtual Meetings ...................................... 19 4.2 Implementation ‐ Blogs and Wikis ................................................................................ 19 4.3 Implementation ‐ Second Life ...................................................................................... 22 4.3.1 Live Lab ..................................................................................................................... 24 4.3.2 Virtual Lab ................................................................................................................ 24 4.3.3 Possible Platforms For Privately Hosted Virtual Worlds .......................................... 25 4.3.4 Work From Home ..................................................................................................... 26 5 Conclusions & Recommendations ............................................................................ 27 5.1 Recommendations for EMC ONE .................................................................................. 27 5.1.1 Suggestion 1 ............................................................................................................. 28 5.1.2 Suggestion 2 ............................................................................................................. 28 5.1.3 Suggestion 3 ............................................................................................................. 29 5.1.4 Suggestion 4 ............................................................................................................. 29 5.2 Recommendations for Implementation of Second Life ............................................... 30 5.3 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 31 6 Works Cited ............................................................................................................... 32 Appendix A: Interview Questions ..................................................................................... 34 Appendix B: Interview Invitation & Thank You Letters ..................................................... 36 Appendix C: Interview Data .............................................................................................. 38 ABSTRACT EMC wants to implement Web 2.0 technologies for use in its business processes, and wants to be aware of the security risks associated with implementing these technologies. We identified business needs to be addressed (improving communication company-wide, reaching out new recruiting channels), investigated how changes could be implemented, assessed the security issues involved, and provided recommendations for EMC to securely adopt wikis, blogs and Second Life. EMC Corporation Secure Implementation of Blogs, Wikis, and Second Life MQP Report i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In Secure Implementation of Blogs, Wikis and Second Life we look at how EMC, our sponsoring corporation, can implement emerging Web 2.0 technologies securely within their business. The Global Security Organization (GSO), led by Roland Cloutier, sponsored this project with WPI and project advisor Professor Bengisu Tulu, because of a growing request by other departments in the company to have the GSO allow the use of emerging technologies, specifically blogs, wikis, and Second Life. Background A blog, short for web log, is a website that contains periodic, chronologically ordered posts (Marketing Terms). Blogs paired with wikis are increasingly used by businesses as cost-effective solutions for many business processes, such as knowledge management (Gonzalez-Reinhart, 2005), and are comparable to expensive and comprehensive IT solutions. These IT solutions include project management and communication tools. Through the use of these new technologies, team members can share knowledge simply and quickly (Sauer, Bialek et al., 2004). A wiki is a collaborative website that enables any user with access to it to change its content (American Heritage Dictionary, n.d.). One of the most widely known wikis is Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. Since the content of a wiki is maintained by the members of its community, a wiki, such as Wikipedia, relies mostly on the trust and honesty of those who use it to police its content. For example, Wikipedia can be edited by anyone who chooses to make an account with Wikipedia. However, pronounced inaccuracies generally do not last for longer than a day. Second Life is a fully functional virtual world on the Internet. Users (called “residents”) create their own customizable character (“avatar”) and join the online community by participating in community events, as well as buying and selling things on the internal marketplace. Launched by