How about home access to POINT?

The Police Intranet (POINT) is a very useful, informative and efficient network on which officers can easily obtain information by browsing the webpage on the Common Terminal Access (CTA).

However, the limited numbers of computer terminals at police stations make it difficult for officers to get extensive use of the system. Therefore, I would like to suggest officers be allowed to gain access to POINT at home on the Internet by using a password for the CTA. I am sure this will facilitate the dissemination of Force information.

Police Constable Wong Ho-yin
Emergency Unit, New Territories North

POINT stands for Police Intranet, and intranets are by definition, protected from the World Wide Web (the Internet) either by firewalls, or by complete physical isolation. This isolation allows organisations to place information on their Intranet in some confidence, knowing only staff can gain access.

Since POINT is connected to other systems within the Force (such as PICS), any access to it also gives access to these systems. If we were to allow access from home therefore, we would need to make sure hackers could not gain access to other more sensitive police systems through the firewall. A possible alternative would be to allow staff to dial up to a local modem pool, bypassing the Internet altogether.

In short, we are aware of the advantages of giving access to POINT from home, but we are still looking at ways in which to make this safe and secure.

E.K. Wright
for the Assistant Commissioner
(Information Systems)