Using Spider3.0 Beta (Windows version)

Spider's purpose is to identify files that may contain confidential data. It scans a collection of files, searching for patterns of numbers or letters that resemble Social Security numbers or credit card numbers (additional search patterns can be created using Unix regular expressions). Spider creates a log that lists all the files identified as potentially containing confidential data. The person using Spider should then look through this log, examine each of the files listed, and take steps to protect any files that prove to contain confidential data. Protection steps may include encrypting files, or moving files to a secure server or to offline storage. It is against University policy to keep sensitive data on an unsecured workstation.

Spider will misidentify certain types of files as containing confidential data. Every effort should be made to verify Spider's results before moving, encrypting, or removing files. RPM, TIFF, and TrueType font are among the filetypes notorious for false positives.

Spider's logs can function as a roadmap to confidential data and must be well secured.

Install Spider

Requirements: Windows 2000, XP, or 2003 with Microsoft .NET 1.1 installed

1. To ensure you have the latest .NET 1.1:
   1. Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
   2. Click on the Custom button
   3. After your system has been analyzed, click on the Software, Optional(n) area on the left of the browser and check Microsoft .NET Framework version 1.1
   4. Click Review and install updates
   5. Click Install Updates
   6. If you did not have .NET 1.1 installed you will have to go back to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com to get .NET 1.1 Service Pack 1
   7. Click on the Express button
   8. After your system has been analyzed, click on the Install Updates button
   9. When the download and installation is complete you will have to restart your computer.
2. To install Spider:
   1. Download Spider3 Beta (zip file)
   2. Extract the files and then run Spider3_dotNET1.1.msi.
   3. A setup program will run. Click Next > in each window, except the License window where you need to click Yes . Click Close in the final window.

Run Spider

1. From the Start menu, choose All Programs , Spider3 , then Spider_3.0.exe.
2. Click the Run Spider button
3. Spider may take a long time to run, depending on the number of files to be searched. When it has finished, the Spider window will change back to its initial state as shown below, and the log file will be ready for review. The log file is C:\SPIDER.LOG unless you use the configuration options shown in the next section to specify a different location.

   Spider in operation:

   Spider starts by building a list of files that meet the scan selection criteria, then begins its work.

   Files Spider WILL process:
   • any file marked by Windows as Archive, Normal, Compressed, or Temporary
   • any of the above file types that is not open and locked by another application
   • any unencrypted file stored within a readable ZIP archive
   Files Spider WILL NOT process:
   • files open and locked by another process (i.e., an Excel spreadsheet currently opened by Excel)
   • system files (executables, DLLs, the pagefile, the hibernation file, etc.)
   • encrypted files (on the assumption they are inaccessible)
   • sparse files (generally weird databases that Spider couldn't reliably parse anyway)

    

Configure Spider

Spider can be run without adjusting any settings, but the Spider window offers a number of options to customize your session and log.

To adjust Spider settings, choose Configure, then Settings.