Tip #91: Data Security | Restricting Access to Empower

Welcome back to Get Empowered! In the last Empower tip-of-the-week post for Empower Chromatography Data Software, we learned how to use Empower to evaluate whether the sample meets specific criteria (Tip #90).

In this week’s tip, I thought it would be timely to answer a question I recently received that pertains to data security for chromatography systems: Restricting access to Empower and Empower projects. (Next week, we’ll continue our series on Custom Fields in Empower)

What you need to know before we get started

In order to gain access to Empower Software, a user must first have an active account with a valid user name and password. Every user is assigned a set of privileges, establishing what they can and cannot do in Empower. The level of access to a project is set when it is created and can be modified as needed. Because audit trails are built into Empower, all activity inside and outside of the projects is recorded.

Let’s get started.

Step 1

When you create a new project, the wizard allows you to set access.

Select ‘Owner only’, ‘Owner and Group’, or ‘Owner, Group, and World’, or you can also set the ‘Group User Type’ or ‘World User Type’. The default is ‘User’s Own Type’, which means whatever privileges those users have in Empower will apply to this project. You can modify the user type from the drop-down menu. For example: the ‘Group User Type’ is left at default, the ‘World User Type’ is set to ‘Guest’. That means anyone outside of the Quality Control Laboratory group will have access to the project as a ‘Guest’. ‘Guests’ will have read-only access and will not be able to create anything, i.e., methods or results (Figure 1). (Administrators will have access to all projects.)

Figure 1

Step 2

Access to existing projects can be modified by right-clicking on the project, selecting Properties, and going to the Access tab (Figure 2).

Figure 2

Step 3

The System Audit trail keeps track of users who have created projects (Figure 3).

Figure 3

Step 4

The Project Audit trail keeps track of activity inside of the project (Figure 4).

Figure 4

Step 5

Electronic signatures can be applied to reports, eliminating any question as to who approved or rejected the results (Figure 5).

Figure 5

Step 6

If an unauthorized person attempts to access the Empower system, an email alert is sent to the appropriate person(s) with notification (Figure 6).

Figure 6

It’s that easy!

If you would like to learn more, view/download our White Paper: System Policies and Privileges for Processing Data in Empower Software

Final Note: This procedure can be followed using the QuickStart or Pro interface.

Please rate this Empower Tip of the Week

Next week in Empower Tip #92 – We’ll continue our series on Custom Fields.

 More resources

• Is your data secure? Have confidence in data integrity and your ability to address validation and regulatory concerns with Waters software.  Read More
• Save the Date for [inform] 2019. Waters Informatics Users’ Conference, May 20-23 in Austin, Texas.  Learn More
• Want to learn more? Check out our Empower training courses and eLearning.
• Build your technical skills and professional network. Share, ask, and interact with peers from around the globe in dynamic discussions by joining our Informatics Community Forum.
• Empower is the first cloud-deployable, compliance-ready, enterprise chromatography data software – Learn more about Empower Cloud
• Get the latest Empower projects, options, and more. Check out the New Waters Marketplace.
• See all of our tips for using Empower CDS Software.