LAN shared file security question

[umala]

For some reason, the neigbour company can not get ADSL connection and asked our company to share Internet connection with them. We agree but then realise that all file that we share internally can be viewed by them as well as all file that the other company is sharing between themself.

How can we put up a password for a shared files between agroup of computer.

thanks

 

[g-paw]

A year or so ago had a granddaughter living with me and if I remember correctly, I gave her computer a different Work Group name than mine and she could connect to the Internet but not access my computers. Not sure if this would work in a business environment.

 

[burn-e86]

A year or so ago had a granddaughter living with me and if I remember correctly, I gave her computer a different Work Group name than mine and she could connect to the Internet but not access my computers. Not sure if this would work in a business environment.

This doesnt work in any enviroment, all you have to do is click on view network computers then go up one level to see all availible work groups, and volia, you can access all shared folders.
There is a way to do this with vista I do know that for a fact, you can share to selected groups, and allow cirtain groups to view files, other groups (i.e. management or whatever) to edit files etc. It is infact a real pain in the ass to setup correctly.
I believe that it is also possible on XP but I'm not 100 on that. One of the things that you could do is set up a few FTP networks on the computers sharing the files, rather then using windows filesharing, you could use password protected FTP servers, that would stop the other company from viewing your files and if they do the same, stop you from viewing their files. Also with the FTP you could change it so only select users can access the files in a few ways
[1st] filtering using user names and passwords
[2nd] if you have fixed IP addresses then you can allow access to only PCs with xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx address
[3rd] if you have dynamic IP addresses then you can filter using MAC addresses.
though I'm not too sure on how to get 2 and 3 working or even if it's possible (i took a guess but whatever, i'm sure atleast one server program will have those abilities). Ofcourse the best policy is to not share the internet and just get them to speak to your ISP to see why their area is not covered when your right next door.

 

[micheljq]

A complex matter, if you had a real file server it could be done because users must connect with a user name and password to have access to the files shared over the network. But it looks like you have a workgroup, which is difficult to manage, no central administration possible.
Another way would be to have a router connected to your ADSL connection. Your office connect to a port of the router through a switch to have internet access, and the other office to another port of the router. Then, you can block your internal LAN addresses from the other office's LAN by a configuration in the router and vice-versa.