Internet monitoring at work?

fulloflead said:
Dude. You should see a doctor. I think having that chip removed from your shoulder is an out-patient procedure with a small co-pay.
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Very nicely expressed. :)
 
That was weird. Maybe that's an example to show why some people's internet activities should be monitored.... :confused:
 
bladefixation2 said:
If only the rest of the world were so civil liberty minded rather than being ruled by business
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"Civil liberties," here in the U.S., refers to rights vis-a-vis government. You have no "civil liberties" as respects a private party. (Of course, in the UK, you have all the rights today's Commons majority says you have.)

If you don't like your employer trying to insure that you don't spend paid time on personal business, try to find an employer who thinks that's OK.

I'm sure if you hire a kid to cut your grass, you expect to pay him for time he spends on the cellphone chatting with his girl friend/buds. Can't have you "ruling" his life. Right?
 
fulloflead said:
Hey, how can you tell if your boss is monitoring your internet activity at work? Is there a way to tell if they've put some kind of spyware on your Mac to track? Am I paranoid? Wait... what was that. I think I hear something... they're watching me. Shhhhhhhh. :eek:

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We have a written policy that they distribute during orientation. It says that all emails and an internet use log are kept for two years.
 
Of course your internet useage and emails are being monitored at work - what's your point? ;)

Seriously, my wife is a very senior investment consultant with the government and she tries to send as few email memos as possible to a U.K. client named Walter Sexsmith. Think I'm kidding? :(
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fulloflead said:
What the...

Dude. You should see a doctor. I think having that chip removed from your shoulder is an out-patient procedure with a small co-pay.
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Can I get an amen from the choir. :thumbup:
 
fracmeister said:
hey there fredericktoo,,,,


hmmm... crude remarks about sex, insulting me repeatedly and then trying to brush it off as humor and (as he has done in other posts) implying he wouldn't care about being banned....

No, I don;t think that is enywhere near enough to get you banned. But clicking

here

adds you to my ignore list. Much simpler.
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Its funny because I put that guy on my ignore list when I read his post. . . and now he is banned. . . I would wager half of my ignore list consists of individuals now banned. :D
 
Thomas Linton said:
I'm sure if you hire a kid to cut your grass, you expect to pay him for time he spends on the cellphone chatting with his girl friend/buds. Can't have you "ruling" his life. Right?
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If he calls his girlfriend while he waits for the lawnmower to be filled up (he can't do it himself because this isn't that kind of analogy), I wouldn't mind him calling her. In any case, I wouldn't tape their conversation.
 
We have a company policy about this as well. Not only can they monitor, we have to use a special "company" template on outgoing emails. Haven't had any issues from my side, though. As long as the work gets done on time:) I just don't spend that much time on the 'net, and don't go where I'm not supposed to.

- gord
 
Set up a proxy server at home. Lock it down through SSH and establish a VPN (encrypted tunnel) between your browser and your proxy at home.

As to the password issue and keyloggers, there are password vaults (Password Safe) where you copy and paste or mouseclick letters to appear in the ID and password box. No keylogger traces. You can set up the vault to blank the clipboard when you exit the vault application Keep the vault on your own USB key, not the work box.

All the work folks see is encrypted traffic.

Phil
 
See I find it to be a problem to take such measures to get around some rules or monitoring software. If you have something that you really would rather keep 100% private, do it from home. If you are doing it to get around some block or rules from the workplace you are screwed.

Getting caught doing something you shouldn't have been is bad enough, but you can always just claim ignorance. If you are caught taking such extreme measures to get around it then I doubt that there would be any real way to explain it. I think it is simple enough to just know you are being watched, and act accordingly. I would bet that most places wouldn't really care to much if you do some non work related browsing as long as your work gets done.

Also another point that nobody has brought up yet is security. Many things might be blocked for security reasons, such as trying to protect corporate data as much as possible. It is possible to pick up some really nasty things if you are traveling in the wrong places on the internet. It wouldn't look to good for the compnay if an employee browsing the internet allowed a torjan in which then leaked out sensitive information, would it?
 
phatch said:
. . .
All the work folks see is encrypted traffic.

Phil
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On which basis, they may fire your butt -- as deserved.

Following the rules is a condition of the deal - the contract. You ought to follow them because you accepted the deal, not because someone is watching. It's that antique concept called "honor."
 
phatch said:
Set up a proxy server at home. Lock it down through SSH and establish a VPN (encrypted tunnel) between your browser and your proxy at home.

As to the password issue and keyloggers, there are password vaults (Password Safe) where you copy and paste or mouseclick letters to appear in the ID and password box. No keylogger traces. You can set up the vault to blank the clipboard when you exit the vault application Keep the vault on your own USB key, not the work box.

All the work folks see is encrypted traffic.

Phil
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That's exactly what I was going to say. I currently have a Linux server set up for file sharing in my house, and SSH set up for proxying when I am using a wifi connection at places like my public library.

One thing though. When you SSH into your box, you create an encrypted tunnel. You don't need a VPN in additon to logging in via SSH.
 
Thomas Linton said:
On which basis, they may fire your butt -- as deserved.

Following the rules is a condition of the deal - the contract. You ought to follow them because you accepted the deal, not because someone is watching. It's that antique concept called "honor."
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Certainly a risk. There is no risk free solution. And you mention a good policy anyway.

There are, however, valid work reasons for the above solution. In various geeky jobs within staid employers, sites such as slashdot would be filtered for language content. However, the technical info there is of such importance that the said geek needs it to keep abreast of the issues of his job if he wishes to do it well.

Additionally, an employer may not have security policies that meet your standards for doing things on the 'net that you are required to do by your job.

Phil
 
I wouldn't use encryption or any other technological measures to hide something that violates the employer's policies.

It's about privacy. Even if I'm exchanging recipes with my neighbor, I figure that it isn't much of their business. If they let me surf the web or use email when I'm taking a break, then why not?

Some web-based email systems will encrypt ALL traffic to and from their server, not just the usual username + password. I've never heard of anyone getting in trouble for using one of these, so I don't see how it's any worse to check your email from your home machine or use a Knoppix DVD and GNUPG. I've also never heard of any company prohibiting the use of SSL to log on to sites.
 
Many years ago, the Postal Service introduced a pilot program using a handheld programmable calculator to track mail volume and estimate workload based on it.

Some of the initial distribution went to guys who were really excited by the possibilities, and got together to work out a program that could evaluate horse races.

This upset the bureaucrats so much that they shut the program down pending a revision of the calculators to lock out further, unauthorized programming.

Stupid. The guys had still been doing the job they got the calculators for, and were learning how to use them for other functions. Never inhibit employee creativity!

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I think employers should be very open to encouraging freer access, within the limits of the law. Don't log on to impure entetainment :) and don't send obviously inappropriate messages.

We aren't talking about Lucy Arnaz sorting chocolates here. I worked hard to upgrade my computer users' understanding of spreadsheets, word proc, and communications. The more they did on their own, the more they understood how to do for the company. It's called incentive.

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That said, you aren't working for me. Play by the rules when you have to. And if you can, find an employer who understands that his interests are served by employees who are enthusiastic about being on the job.
 
When I was the IT manager (nerd) for a large Brit Law firm, I got an email about twice a day from the server telling me who visited what site at what time and the duration of the visit. This was set up by the previous IT manager. For us, it wasnt a matter of what you were looking at, only security, so Hotmail and IM were blocked, other than that no one gave a rats ass what you looked at as long as it was billable :)
 
I believe that it was Joe Kennedy (of those Kennedys) who wrote something like, "Never write down anything that you wouldn't be prepared to see printed on the front page of the New York Times."

Wise words, especially if you add the words "...or read on job time..."

maximus otter
 
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