Company Computer Surveillance

[jmni]

In regards to how companies are allowed to monitor you through computer trojans, etc.

So this came up for me about a year ago. I know very little about this. I assume that companies are able to do it because the employee is on their property and using company computers. If anyone knows more about it I would like to learn.

I think that this defense is really flimsy because it's not really a law, and just an argument. And this just seems like it would be hard to defend because trojans are what teenage boys use so they can see naked women and spy on the lives of teens that they hate... too sketchy.

In my case an employee was spying on me with the in house trojan but she wasn't in HR. She was just a nasty creep who felt like she could do whatever she wanted.

 

[arfie]

In the internal (company) computer networks I am familiar with, the in-house monitoring system is not a trojan. You are more likely to pick those up from pop-up software or e-mail attachments. They are sneak attacks. In-house monitoring is typically built into the network software. There is a good chance you signed something during the hiring process to advise you on the extent to which you will be monitored. Ideally, in-house monitoring is used mostly for training, quality control and load balancing. Alas, not everyone is honorable enough to stick to the ideals. I know 1st graders who can open and use many of these monitoring utilities. The abuse of which you speak is not even difficult. It is highly unethical. I am sorry you are enduring it.

I would speak to the IT security person, but your company might have a chain of command you need to use.

 

[jmni]

Thanks, arfie. It is very disturbing. I was actually fired shortly after this incident.

 

[Anarchy]

Are you using specific company software on the work computer?

If you aren't, try booting it with a live operating system from a memory stick, something like "tails" you can have all of the word processors, spread sheets and other general use software on it. also stick a bit of tape over the web cam.

some places use keyloggers, with the idea that if you aren't typing a certain number of characters an hour, you aren't working... A pal used to work for one of the big crony civil engineering companies (the sort that get all the big "foreign aid" jobs as a condition of the massive "aid" loans being made to dictators) when they operated a system like that. one of the engineers had written a script that gave the illusion that the guys were all typing away at a hell of a rate. They were actually working hard, but sometimes that work involved much more than typing away at a computer.

Another pal worked computer security for a big manufacturer. his job was to find what private surfing etc was going on with work computers, and just to quietly block access to those sites from the company machines. One guy that always had my friend laughing, was a stocking fetishist at one of the plants, who followed his private interest on a work computer.

Which really makes the point, if it is private or sensitive, don't do it on a work computer, or, if you really must use a work machine, secure it with a live system like "tails" or a "virtual machine" first.
[DLMURL]https://prism-break.org/en/subcategories/gnu-linux-operating-systems-live[/DLMURL]
and
https://prism-break.org/en/projects/whonix/

 

[moonbeam]

The idea is that your work computer is the companies property that they are providing for you to use for the purpose of doing your job. Most places make you sign a form at starting that says you understand its not for personal use and that you may be monitered, which is usually done by HR (or IT that gives to HR).

Some companies enforce it more than others. But from there standpoint your computer and internet is for you to work and they are paying you to be there to do work. Even on your lunch time (most people don't keep it just to lunch) its still there equipment and you run the risk of accidentally infecting the system with viruses when going to places that are unnecessary for work and not secure. These viruses mean more hours worked by IT and a ton of other potential issues which does cost them money to remedy.

I don't fully agree with it but unfortunately there are too many idiots who delete their drivers, get viruses, etc. that ruin it for everyone else.

 

[shimmerz]

It's all about the IP address which belongs to the company. As more and more people are computer savvy, many can cause damage to other computers using a company IP address (an unique identifier that tells anyone who tracks IP's where your IP originated from). I was in IT for 30 years and watched as companies rolled out computers with people (at work) hitting porn sites, downloading inappropriate programs that if the company was software audited would put the company at great risk etc.

So truly it is about the company lessening liabilities. An IP address can be likened to a 'person' in such that if that person were to go to another company representing themselves as being part of that company and behaving in a manner that was damaging to the company or misrepresenting the companies values, it would be grounds for dismissal. An IP address ties you into your company as a representative of said employer and therefore that employer could be sued for your actions while using their IP.

I had an internet friend who worked in a school in the USA who was a porn addict. The school found out and had to remove him after three warnings (which is pretty generous if you ask me).