Work has locked me down! [Archive] - TBCS Community Forums

rendermandan

11-07-2007, 01:16 AM

Sorry everyone, My activity on this forum is going to be seriously cut down. As of this afternoon, our work has implimented a "Lockdown" on all computers. This includes file sharing, Email access, Control Panel, even the time and date settings are unavailable to me, I can't delete my cookies or clear my browser history and they have locked a bunch of websites out from browsing, including this forum just to name a few.

I don't understand what on this site is causing the it to be blocked, Its not like this is an objectionable content website.

Most of my surfing and time spent on this forum is done while I'm at work so now I'm only going to be able to get on in the evening from home.

That is until I find a work around to bypass the security without our System Admin finding out...

Has this happened to anyone else?

xRyokenx

11-07-2007, 02:01 AM

Makes me think that the public school epidemic is spreading. Nazi-esque policies and all. They enforced that dress code like crazy. I swear, I'm seeing the end of something coming... either the world or my sanity. :F

They had us wear horrible clothing with the excuse that we're going to wear fancy clothes when we get jobs anyway. Guess what assholes? We're not at work, we're at school. It's supposed to be somewhat fun and enjoyable at school. You know, chatting with friends and such (not that I had (m)any).

They need to let up some. Everybody, that is. Everyone is so tense and rushed and just stressed out or pissed off about everything. Cut yourself and everyone else some slack and just take it easy. Take your time. Be patient. Sheesh.

/rant

Sorry about that, I just have a lot of tension building up, I'm seriously not liking what I'm seeing in my future and this world... it's frustrating seeing that your future is going to be filled with stress unless there's some random "act of god" or something. At least I've found a subject that interests me. Hopefully I can be of some good to the world. Psychology ftw!

In other news, I think my college might block it soon, we shall see. It's not really a distraction, but instead a momentary diversion from tedious, repetitive work (*cough* Power Point *cough*).

Again, sorry for going kind of OT... I feel like I'm going to implode and go into a coma for a few months from all this.

danthegeek

11-07-2007, 02:07 AM

Most of my surfing and time spent on this forum is done while I'm at work so now I'm only going to be able to get on in the evening from home.

Maybe that has something to do with it? ;)

Omega

11-07-2007, 02:12 AM

School exists not as a social center, but one of education. As much as I would like to think that school should be for dicking around and socializing, it's not. You're there to learn, and while it's not a "job" per se, it is YOUR job, and your responsibility. Also, if the college/school district/whatever forbades you from wearing certain clothes and it's such an issue to you, simply stop giving your (or your parents' or your bank's) money to them. Simple as that.

Stuff like that really is a non-issue in my opinion. If they say you can't wear your "COCKITIZER" t-shirt to school, deal with it or leave. They will have standards and you will be required to meet them or else cease to participate.

Besides, welcome to life. You're in college now, right? Sure, you should enjoy this while you can, because you probably won't have this much of a social life again (work, sleep, shower, mild recreation perhaps, and there's your weekday for the rest of your life (please do not omit eating as it is critical)), but you shouldn't go out of your way to socialize (trust me, it's not hard) or jeopardize your perfectly good shot at an education because you still want to be a kid.

'Sides, once you finish your classes for the day and homework or whatever, you're free to dick off. Just like other school life.

/counter-rant

OvRiDe, I don't know why they'd block TBCS but I do understand why they might block other crap, you're there to work and not dick off. =/

That being said, I typically read bash.org while in 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th and 6th period classes.

Strangely enough, my grade in those classes are C+, C+, A, and C- respectively. Why? I can manage my time. Taking notes while reading bash.org FTW!

But yeah. Lockdown = Ghey.

xRyokenx

11-07-2007, 02:37 AM

I know it's a place of learning. It was more of them forcing **** on us! I don't wear crazy clothes, just plain, casual, comfortable ones. Wearing a black polo tucked in with TAN pants (I HATE TAN! HATE!) day after day after day with the threat of suspension for two weeks was not something I liked. I chat when I get the chance (which isn't often) and I do my work. I was half asleep and they wouldn't leave me the f*** alone when it came to that (I did better than most everyone else and they still bitched at me)... I'm just sick of a lot of things at the moment. Too many things that have bothered me in the past are coming back for revenge.

************************************************** **************** *********************************** In fact, I'll go ahead and just "***" out that last part. Don't worry about it.

OvRiDe

11-07-2007, 02:44 AM

As a Sys Admin I would like to say I feel your pain.. but unfortunately I have sworn an oath and had extensive electroshock therapy in order not to. :p

First thing I have to say is .. Lockdowns are not personal. They are usually done because there are continual problems due to the nature of employees surfing the web. Honestly hundreds of hours of my time are eaten up needlessly due to someone surfing a site, downloading a trojan and then leaving it up to us IT folk to clean up the mess. When if they had been paying attention or not downloaded some shiny new gizmo for their desktop it could have been avoided. Then they wonder why we are behind on rolling out the new email system etc etc.. Of course I always get .. "Shouldn't the Antivirus have picked that up?" Well .. YES it should have but new viruses are released every day and the Antivirus companies don't always get the updates out before a company can be heavily infected. During my years the companies I have worked for have used McAfee, Norton, Trend and AVG corp, and everyone of them have let something big through one time or another.

The other thing that causes these kinds of decisions to be made is time! Execs eat that up. Lets just say we have an medium sized average company or 500 employees. If every employee spends 1 hour a day surfing the internet on company time. thats 500 hours a day. Lets say the average wage for said company is 15 bucks an hour. That company is paying out $7500 dollars a day for surfing. Thats $37,500 a week, $162,500 month and 1.95 MILLION dollars a year. When Execs get a hold of those numbers all they see is RED. Now in reality we know that there are just times when you got a few minutes to burn or need a break etc etc, but those Execs don't want to hear it. They want productivity.

That is until I find a work around to bypass the security without our System Admin finding out...

All I have to say to this is BE CAREFUL. You'd be surprised at what your Sys Admin really knows. I can't count how many times I have seen the blood drain from an employees face when I confront them about something they have done on their computer because they didn't think we knew. TCPDUMP, IPTRAF, DRIFTNET, URLSNARF, Wireshark, and AIM SNIFF are our friends, and we can use them from the comfort of our desk (ok, my desk is not comfortable at all), and the user has no way of knowing that I am looking at them. Now before you all flame me and say that I am some evil lurker waiting to get some one fired.. Let me just say.. the reason I have seen the expressions on their faces is because I usually go to them in private instead of just turning them over to HR. I really don't want to see anyone loose their job over something as silly as surfing. Unfortunately a few habitual offenders have forced me to do it.

When it comes to blocking TBCS, it was probably not for content, it was probably just on a list of sites that were being visited that were not work related.

OvRiDe, I don't know why they'd block TBCS but I do understand why they might block other crap, you're there to work and not dick off. =/ I think you may have me confused with Mr Rendermandan... =/

Spawn-Inc

11-07-2007, 03:18 AM

if they have blocked the internet then it won't work but i was able to install firefox on my mp3 palyer and look at the net through that which i think they cannot see what you look at, but not sure of this.

Omega

11-07-2007, 03:23 AM

Eh, I saw the OvRiDe sig, meant Dan, whatever.

You still know what I meant.

OvRiDe

11-07-2007, 03:25 AM

Is your mp3 player connected to your works internet or on some sort of wifi? If its going through your companies internet connection.. They can see it .. if they are looking.

Spawn-Inc

11-07-2007, 03:37 AM

OvRiDe

11-07-2007, 03:42 AM

usb, thats what i was thinking as i was typing, but i mean if there not looking at the time your on the internet then they won't be able see what you looked at, i think. also you don't have to worry about cookies and the history.

Its true.. but there are these things call logs. I log a bunch of it.. getting time to actually look through it is a different story.

Elenril

11-07-2007, 04:17 AM

We have this system implemented at school. The Department of Education gives every student in the state a username and password, and every single student who wants to access anything on the internet must log into the 'communal' portal. It's less extreme now, but when it was first implemented last year, every visual search engine, every forum, every social networking site, every music site, every game site and all email was blocked. That includes Google images. They pretty much just blocked everything on the internet, and unblocked the sites that they deemed as being 'safe'. As a student who does subjects heavily reliant on art, research and sharing (Visual Arts, Design and Technology, Multimedia), my class time would basically be wasted because I couldn't use the internet. Due to the masses of complaints the Department was receiving from schools all over the state, they worked on the system a bit more to fix it up, but still a ridiculous amount of websites are blocked. The only way I can access a lot of websites is because I also go to TAFE (like a technical college), where they signed me up for another account, with wider permissions than the normal school system, so now the only sites which are blocked are youtube, porn sites (i assume) and social networking sites. But I can manage without those at school.

Spawn-Inc: Our school principal is able to view all the websites we go to. He has logs, like OvRiDe mentioned. It not only logs the websites, it logs the applications we use as well.

Ryoken: Not to argue with you here or anything, but I completely agree with Omega. High school is for learning. Not socialising. They did not design schools for teenagers to get together and have friends. They designed them as a way to educate students. The socialising factor is a bonus. Sure, it's great to have friends and to chat to and hang out with them, but the primary purpose of school is to learn. And you shouldn't be so fussy about what clothes you wear to school. Try going to a school like mine, where every day of the year you have to wear a uniform - a disgusting shapeless sack in summer that's swelteringly hot, and a shirt and skirt with terribly designed collars, scratchy jumpers, and tights that are too cold. Socks must not be above ankle height, but must show above the shoe. Skirts may not be shorter than knee length. Shirts must be tucked in and buttoned up all the way. (Of course we never stick to these rules, but we're supposed to). Many schools require students to wear the school hat whenever they're in school uniform, and one school even has SCHOOL UNDERWEAR. When you go to school, you represent your school. Sure, your school may be a hole, but it has a certain standard to uphold, and a reputation. If you don't want to match their standards, then don't go to school. And before anyone flames me, I'm not some sort of stuffy school law-enforcing nazi prefect-like student who is in love with conservative values. I just value my education.

/rant

xRyokenx

11-07-2007, 11:02 AM

Wow. I really can't convey the meaning I intend. Anthony: 0 Inability to communicate: 2

I mean, they were destroying what little socializing there was. At least for me. I know work is for work and school is for learning, but you need to have some breaks. People aren't robots for (Religious Entity Here)'s sake. The old administration left, along with their policies and everything that worked. These new people moved in last year and changed EVERYTHING. It was just frustrating.

In other news, I think I'm done talking aboot high school. I'm not there anymore. I am in college. Time to live in the now and not my ****ty past... enough of high school. So I'll try to suppress any thoughts I have about it in an effort to smother it all to death and be done with it all already.

Sorry if I've taken this wrong... I'm going through a hell of a time at the moment.

Luke122

11-07-2007, 11:14 AM

All the sysadmins here please raise their hands.

*raise*

As Ovride says, we can see logs of pretty much EVERYTHING that happens on our networks. Anything that isnt logged can be snagged off the wire.

Our computer/internet usage policy here tells people that we have the right to randomly check in on their usage to make sure they arent breaking laws/rules. You'd get sick if you saw how easy it is to grab IM convo's off the wire.

Airbozo

11-07-2007, 12:31 PM

*raise*

Fear my network monitoring tools and get the hell off of (insert favorite pron link here) already...

xRyokenx: If you were on the other side of the desk, you would understand the need for uniforms/dress codes. School IS your job. I personally think they should separate kids by gender too. Take some of the hormones out of the learning environment and the violence would lessen. But yes it can suck getting used to it. It is usually NOT the dress code that gets people pissed, it is the fact that they change things from the norm.

luciusad2004

11-07-2007, 01:26 PM

Hmmmmm, I bet the System Admins at my school think im the worst student ever. This is how i spend my free time...

1. Email (school mail and gmail)
2.Gizmodo
3.Engadget
4.TBCS
5.Social Sites (facebook and myspace)

I go to the computer lab everyday multiple times a day and almost NEVER do anyting productive. But then again, my school doesn't seem to care. I guess its worth mentioning that I'm not on the network that most of my school is on im on the network the computer science department has for CS majors. I don't know if the other network is any different in terms of blocked content. I get the feeling however that the Larger school wide network isn't to locked down because i can't even sign on to a computer in one of the various computer labs around campus without AIM or whatever popping up. In the CS lab we can't install so i don't have that problem.

Anyway, In a collegiate environment locked down networks seem sort of silly for the most part. I primarilly mean in the public computer labs however. As far as the labs that are used for class, those need to be locked down because students will likely just screw around on facebook instead of doing work.

Other than that i would hate to see a campus networked locked down except for sites and activites wich pose a genuine threat to the network and/or computer on the network. (and file sharing... i hear that can really slow down networks)

xRyokenx

11-07-2007, 02:00 PM

Well, I was uncomfortable at school to begin with and stupid uniform-esque dress code policies didn't help. It almost killed what little self esteem I had... I hate dressing like a retard. People hated me anyway. I had that court thing and I'm now seen by everyone from there as a potential murderer. Well, I'll not delve too much further, this isn't my blog like someone's about to say. So yeah. I'm done. School is meant to suck. I'm not there any more. I'm in college, which is an entirely different place. **** school.

I'm not entirely ignorant by the way. I can understand why they do a lot of it. I have a skewed perspective of reality. I don't see everything like everyone else even though I can see where they're coming from. I take that into mind... whatever. I'm a dumbass. Off to doing a paper I've known I had to do for three weeks now. This thing is due tomorrow. Lookout 12% here I come!

calumc

11-07-2007, 02:29 PM

I personally think they should separate kids by gender too. Take some of the hormones out of the learning environment and the violence would lessen.

NO!!!!!!!!!!
Various studies and my own experience that boys are much worse if they are seperated.
I go to a really small school (around 100 people in total). My year started out with 11 boys, you wouldnt believe the amount of fights that went on until we got some girls in. Im sure if you were to observe my class with and without girls you would see a drastic improvement in our behaviour with girls.
But on the other hand studies have shown girls to do better on their own but on average they still do better in exams. So in conclusion, things are fine the way they are.

xRyokenx

11-07-2007, 02:32 PM

I have an idea. After I get my PHd (however that's capitalized) I'll do a study on school environments and how to improve them. Viola. There's genius thinking. :D

Xpirate

11-07-2007, 04:03 PM

They haven't locked down the internet where I work yet, but they are planning on doing it. I'm not sure how they did it at my old job, but if the browser found the f-bomb, ****, ass, or other kinds of foul language, it would present you with a page that tells you that you accessed inappropriate material. This made it difficult to find stuff on technical forums. It was probably some web blocking software installed on the machine, but I never had enough time to figure out how to disable it.

luciusad2004

11-07-2007, 04:04 PM

NO!!!!!!!!!!
Various studies and my own experience that boys are much worse if they are seperated.
I go to a really small school (around 100 people in total). My year started out with 11 boys, you wouldnt believe the amount of fights that went on until we got some girls in. Im sure if you were to observe my class with and without girls you would see a drastic improvement in our behaviour with girls.
But on the other hand studies have shown girls to do better on their own but on average they still do better in exams. So in conclusion, things are fine the way they are.

I actually think i have to agree with this, I don't know first hand but i could have sworn i heard about this somewhere. The female presence some how "tames" the boys. I also heard that it is a factor in why a lot of colleges are moving to co-ed dorms. Again, i have no first hand experience or knowledge of this, but I've heard about it.

Other than that, something about the whole segregated thing bothers me. IDK what. Something about keeping boys and girls separate just doesn't seem right to me. Idk, I'm dumb.

Last minute thought: I think the reason i don't like it has to do with the fact that i don't associate well with boys. I would rather hang out with the girls (i'm not gay ... i just don't always fit in to the masculine ideal) I think that segregated schooling might possibly lead to the perpetuation of sexist ideals. If the sexes are segregated it seems logical that there will be a lot of pressure to fit in with your own sex and thus the whole sexist ideal for each sex will be pushed in each school. (The boys will have to act like boys or be shunned, same for the girls.) Also, when the boys and girls finally get out in to the real world... how are they going to act around each other now? I don't really have anything to back that up but i think its something to put thought to.

I have an idea. After I get my PHd (however that's capitalized) I'll do a study on school environments and how to improve them. Viola. There's genius thinking. :D

I actually think thats a really good idea, If it is something you feel strongly about and want to study and potentially change for the better, that would be a great use of your time/education/life. Not to mention you would be doing something you enjoy and could be proud of after you are done. Wonderful goal.

xRyokenx

11-07-2007, 04:08 PM

I actually think thats a really good idea, If it is something you feel strongly about and want to study and potentially change for the better, that would be a great use of your time/education/life. Not to mention you would be doing something you enjoy and could be proud of after you are done. Wonderful goal.

It's something that bothers me a lot... and by helping to improvement or at least planning (at this stage) to improve it will maybe set these memories that are bothering me to rest for a while. I'll keep that idea in mind, I could really help out by doing that. Well, time to get with my edumacation and write this damned paper I have that's due tomorrow... one step at a time. Like from What About Bob... Baby steps. Baby steps...

crenn

11-07-2007, 04:24 PM

I'll point this out. Wireless internet has no restrictions *winks*

Quakken

11-07-2007, 04:26 PM

So in my school they got seriously good blocking system (I can't find a single site that can get around it... kudos to whoever programmed it, even if it annoying as heil). But get this, for a while it blocked opinions. Yep. Opinions.

No political sites. No site that could influence us. There are CIVICS CLASSES at our school. It must've freakin sucked for all the kids in those classes while OPINIONS were being blocked. It took an entire quarter to get that sorted out.

It's server side, so it really is really REALLY hard to get around. This is why google needs to buy that wavelength and make free widespread internet. (look it up)

That or get an iphone so i can surf in class (okay not an iphone, but something worth my time and money that can use mobile broadband). I Just hope we never go to the extent of dress codes, and gender segregation. There is no use in that, except all the good things.

noopypoop

11-07-2007, 05:21 PM

2 things- one, get an iphone or ipod touch

2, if u cant afford that(:)) then i there are some websites made to bypass them.well really not made for it, but these sites were made for privacy, but ended up being a great way to bypass firewalls. u type in the site u want through the website and it should mask you, making it like your seemingly not on the site. ill try to find some of em. tell me if theyr block from your firewall.

*edit*
found one!

http://www.virtual-browser.com/

the front page tells all about it.

calumc

11-07-2007, 05:26 PM

wont work. If this is anything like my blocking system at school everything is run through a proxy running a firewall with a whitelist/blacklist

Quakken

11-07-2007, 05:46 PM

Nothing works. No proxies will work. No anonymizers will work. None of them haver ever worked. There is some guy at the blocking company's headquarters whose job it is to find new proxies and anonimizers. It's a firewall thing (which is at district headquarters) so I could boot into linux and i would still be blocked (although i could cause some serious damage if i want to but that would be very very stupid.)

Thank goodness we don't have a dress code, and hopefully i am long gone before we have one.

I can tell ya one thing though- Algebra 2 sucks a monkeys left nut. That is all.

Killdrath

11-07-2007, 05:48 PM

*raise*

I dont do any blocking here, but I've been there. On both sides of the desk.

I tellya, when it first came out, gotomypc was a great way to bypass, but now it's usually blocked as well.

server-side blocks are nice. Or even linksys-router-side blocks, for specific sites... (I have a teenage daughter, do the math)

And as for the comment that wireless doesnt have blocks... that depends on whose wireless you use. If I block something thru my server here, it's blocked, wired or wireless, unless they connect to the neighbor's wireless network, which is VERY obvious when they can no longer find the printers :)

Our owner here will randomly remote-monitor most of his employees when he gets the gumption to do so. That in itself is enough to keep most folks in line (that and being a small office).

It would be interesting to see the $$$ worth of man-hours wasted by myspace/facebook/youtube/etc globally. I dont know what they used, but a previous employer of mine had a blocking system that you could enter your employee ID into to turn the blocks off for 10 minutes at a time, for your breaks (all logged of course).

noopypoop

11-07-2007, 06:04 PM

maybe u could make a small case mod, and hide a small router/ modem in the depths of your pc, get a laptop and use the router to make a new connection. the boss will think ure using his inter net. i dunno, im not to good at this (yet) probably doesnt work that way =(

Quakken

11-07-2007, 06:19 PM

i'm lazy so i don't want to spend time explaining it to you.

Spawn-Inc

11-07-2007, 06:26 PM

i'm assuming you guys (networkers) can see passwords and such? thats why onec i found out how much power you guys really have i am not logging into any more pc's at work.

calumc

11-07-2007, 06:28 PM

Passwords would be hashed anyways so you shouldnt be too worried...

rendermandan

11-07-2007, 06:40 PM

wow, a lot of responses, It took me a while to read through them.
Today they told us we needed to settle down because of all the complaints they are getting. they said, its easier at first to block everything, and then unblock stuff as needed. So if that is the case how come I can get to ebay? but not yahoo? I understand the need for for security, but they are taking it to the extreme!!!!

They have the server locked down so tight that I can't even do my job. I use autocad all day long and it creates a lock file on the server in the same directory as the file I'm working on. So when I close the file, it can't delete the lock file and gives me an error, and won't save. So I have to save to my desktop, then copy it back the server. (EVERY TIME I WANT TO SAVE!). isn't that a the biggest PITA you've ever heard?

yesterday was the first time in my 2 years of working there that I thought about getting a new job....

It just plain sucks!

And its not because I've spent too much time on the computer. I surf the we when we either have not work to do, or are copying a huge 100 gb file from the server that takes 2 hours to copy. What else are we supposed to do to keep our selves sane? I know we are there to work, but when there is no work, then what?

Rant over!

Airbozo

11-07-2007, 06:46 PM

I am normally against any sort of blocking/censorship, but when it takes more than 17 hours to download the latest RedHat iso (per disc) because the numbnutz in the warehouse are watching stupidassdigitvideos.com on every PC, I do favor blocking.

Gender separated education has been proven to raise test scores, but the jury is still out on if it really helps long term. I am really in favor of anything that reduces the distractions in the classroom. AND some of that distraction can come from the Teacher, the Staff or even the way the room is decorated. At my SO's school, one of the teacher's dresses like she is on a hot date _every_ day. The young boys love it since they get a show and the girls hate it because they feel it is competition. Either way it is a complete distraction to almost everyone in her classes.

Believe it or not, socialization is a part of education. Compared with home school kids, public/private schooled kids have an easier time relating to other people and even authority figures and will be better workers in a team based environment. It is the class based socialization that screws kids up. Some kids base their "social class" on what type/brand of footwear you have on. This has led to high rates of theft of certain models of sneakers in urban city area's.

xRyokenx: Your PHD paper would get my full support! Great idea too!

Airbozo

11-07-2007, 06:50 PM

..............So if that is the case how come I can get to ebay? but not yahoo? ...............

One of the supervisors makes too much money on ebay to lock it down...

They have the server locked down so tight that I can't even do my job. I use autocad all day long and it creates a lock file on the server in the same directory as the file I'm working on. So when I close the file, it can't delete the lock file and gives me an error, and won't save. So I have to save to my desktop, then copy it back the server. (EVERY TIME I WANT TO SAVE!). isn't that a the biggest PITA you've ever heard?

Yes it is, and I would file a complaint to the help desk every time I had to do it.

yesterday was the first time in my 2 years of working there that I thought about getting a new job....

Shows you care about your work.

It just plain sucks!

And its not because I've spent too much time on the computer. I surf the we when we either have not work to do, or are copying a huge 100 gb file from the server that takes 2 hours to copy. What else are we supposed to do to keep our selves sane? I know we are there to work, but when there is no work, then what?

Rant over!

2 hours to copy a 100gb file? Have your IT dept. contact my company, we can knock that time down significantly.. ;):D:rolleyes:

xRyokenx

11-07-2007, 07:42 PM

xRyokenx: Your PHD paper would get my full support! Great idea too!

That won't be for at least 6-10 years. This was a simple Cause and Effect one in narrative form and I still haven't got the will to start it. I have a little bit of a list on what's going to happen written down. I just can't find the will/need to do this, it's like a major part of me doesn't care how stupid I'm going to look... or the letter grade I'm gonna lose...

Xpirate

11-07-2007, 08:37 PM

I am normally against any sort of blocking/censorship, but when it takes more than 17 hours to download the latest RedHat iso (per disc) because the numbnutz in the warehouse are watching stupidassdigitvideos.com on every PC, I do favor blocking.

I completely agree. I keep my recreational surfing to a minimum at work. Anyone who wants to stream massive amounts of video at work should be fired.

slytherock

11-07-2007, 08:58 PM

I completely agree. I keep my recreational surfing to a minimum at work. Anyone who wants to stream massive amounts of video at work should be fired.
I work from home... should I consider myself fired??? :p

cured

11-07-2007, 09:19 PM

work+internet lesiure time=dont mix.. if your willing to take the risk there are some ways to get around these..

http://www.virtual-browser.com/

Xpirate

11-07-2007, 09:57 PM

I work from home... should I consider myself fired??? :p

I've worked from home before as well, not very often though.

I knew someone who had the company pay for her internet access. I thought that was not fair. I feel that it is wrong if you use that company paid internet to spend lots of time with non work related stuff. This person also took advantage of other things that most people usually wouldn't get away with as well.

OvRiDe

11-07-2007, 10:08 PM

work+internet lesiure time=dont mix.. if your willing to take the risk there are some ways to get around these..

http://www.virtual-browser.com/

These may work in some cases.. but I have to point out. Sys Admins LOVE things like this because stick out like a sore thumb! They are also extremely easy to block.. ie... *.virtual-browser.com. The other thing about these sites are they are really easy for HR to process because it shows that the user is deliberately circumventing in place measures and violating policy. URLSnarf reveals these types of urls quickly and easily.

slytherock

11-07-2007, 10:09 PM

OvRiDe

11-07-2007, 10:22 PM

I've worked from home before as well, not very often though.

I knew someone who had the company pay for her internet access. I thought that was not fair. I feel that it is wrong if you use that company paid internet to spend lots of time with non work related stuff. This person also took advantage of other things that most people usually wouldn't get away with as well.

A while back I would have agreed with you, but really its one of those things thats better left to management. I was involved in a conversation once that really brought alot of things to light. There are several things that most just don't realize when it comes to office space. If a person is productive at home, the company can save a lot of overhead by having them work from home. Compared to the cost of office space, an internet connection is CHEAP! The other thing is, they really don't have internet plans that are limited to 8 hrs a day. So as long as they are productive and get their work done, most companies don't seem have a problem with it.

nil8

11-08-2007, 11:11 AM

*raises hand*

Firefox on a thumb drive was mentioned. True, this can stop someone from seeing where you go locally on the machine, but any half-decent web filtering software logs the account, ip, and destination.

This all reminds me of a little story of why web filtering is a good thing.
I was working at a hospital that I won't mention the name of. We got a report that there was some inappropriate material on a shared doctor's pc. I looked back through the webfilter logs & found out the time & specific user. It was child porn. Needless to say he was fired, the files & logs were handed over as evidence to the sheriff's dept, and I never heard another thing about it.
Good reason to have a web filter. If we didn't, we would have never known.

As long as the filtering is reasonable, you won't have problems.
Now it's my turn to get back to work...

Airbozo

11-08-2007, 11:46 AM

I've worked from home before as well, not very often though.

I knew someone who had the company pay for her internet access. I thought that was not fair. I feel that it is wrong if you use that company paid internet to spend lots of time with non work related stuff. This person also took advantage of other things that most people usually wouldn't get away with as well.

When I worked at sgi, back before dsl and cable were available, they paid for my dual line isdn line. It was part of the benefits of being a system administrator and needing to be able to access any system within 1 hour when I was on call. If you cost it out over a long period, it actually saved them money since I was on the clock from the moment my pager went off. A couple years later they bought a laptop with a cell phone modem for the on call sysadmin. I could then hang out at the beach and answer pages and fix/reboot systems while on call instead of being tied to my house. Again, if you cost it out, it was still cheaper for them than paying me to drive to work to press the reset button.

Airbozo

11-08-2007, 11:48 AM

As far as I'm concern; and my boss think the same way, As long as my work is done, everything is allowed.

Same here. Just don't be blatant is his motto.

noopypoop

11-08-2007, 12:03 PM

wait...http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/security/99f1/

read the bottom

Omega

11-08-2007, 12:05 PM

Yeah, like I use ghostzilla, you can load up websites and the browser automatically hides if you move the mouse too far away from it. Very nifty and it can nest into normal windows so you don't look too suspicious.

Luke122

11-08-2007, 12:53 PM

I'd just like to be clear here that we aren't trying to help people find ways to circumvent blocking/filtering, we are discussing reasons for it and both pros and cons of filtering traffic/blocking access.

That being said, it doesnt matter what software you are running on your desktop PC, if it passes out through the company network, it is filtered at the firewall. (At least it is here..) Also, users on my network do not have administrative priveleges locally on their machines, so they cannot install software.

On the illegal content note:

A friend of mine who runs a repair shop in Red Deer once had a customer computer sitting on his workbench connect out to a Chinese server, and start uploading child porn to a server there. Turns out that the owner of the PC had a huge collection, and a program on his PC was calling some chinese server and sending pictures out to them.

Police got called right quick, and that guy is currently in prison. Good thing he had logging enabled on his firewall.. he was notified right away of the unusual activity.

I know that's somewhat off topic from the discussion, but

billygoat333

11-08-2007, 01:10 PM

what sort of web filtering (besides hardline firewalls) can you use on a network? @ my job, I am basically the unofficial sysadmin because no one else knows how to run a network there and my bosses hate outsourcing. (which i dont mind cause i get more privileges than anyone else @ work :P ) Anyways, can you guys recommend a good filtering software?

Xpirate

11-08-2007, 02:37 PM

A while back I would have agreed with you, but really its one of those things thats better left to management.

After reading the responses, I can see your, slytherock's, and Airbozo's point of view.

I had to work with several "work from home" people who did not work. They would not respond to e-mail and you could hardly ever find them logged into the instant messenger.

Some folks take way too much advantage of a good thing and mess it up for everyone else. This is why companies want to lock their employees away from the internet. One employee will take an unfair advantage, and make everyone suffer the consequences.