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Surfing the internet at work - how much can they see?

by krate
13 replies
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I know at work they can tell what sites were visited, but can they see what you saw, like for example if you checked your personal hotmail online, could they also read your email or if you checked your bank balance online, could they see it? What about seeing your passwords?
#at work #workplace privacy
  • Profile picture of the author mojojuju
    The answer is yes to all of those things if you're using a computer that is owned by your employer.
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    :)

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    • Profile picture of the author krate
      wow, always? or how can you tell? I'm in a pretty small office and noone there is very knowledgeable with computers, but we do have a tech support contract (people outside of the office) and I know the boss at least gets a printout of the sites visited and who visited them.
      I don't play around on it much at work, but I will sometimes check my email or whatever, and I really don't want all my passwords and personal stuff out there... Is there a program I can look for to tell how much they can see or anything?
      What if you had an iphone and accessed the internet at work through the wireless network?
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      • Profile picture of the author John Durham
        Originally Posted by krate View Post

        I don't play around on it much at work, but I will sometimes check my email or whatever

        Yeah sure, and you are soooo worried about your email....:rolleyes: Cmon, we know what you are doin. lol

        Jk
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        • Profile picture of the author seasoned
          Originally Posted by John Durham View Post

          Yeah sure, and you are soooo worried about your email....:rolleyes: Cmon, we know what you are doin. lol

          Jk
          He might be.

          But you guys DO realize that the email protocol does NOT generally allow you to send email to anyone, right? There USED to be "open relays", and ISPs USED to allow outside access, but that is CLOSING! And WHY are they called open "RELAYS"? I'll tell you. If you are on system A, and you want to send email to system B, GOOD LUCK! Normally, they won't talk t one another. System A stores your email, forwards it system X, which may be the ONLY system that will accept it. IT stores it, and forwards to system Y which does the same as X but forwards to system Z. That may go on for dozens of hops, and eventually, it gets to B. Ths whole thing was to try to make it more robust in the event of a network breakdown, and provides the only way to actually TRACK email.

          That means email is the least secure protocol, and the only one companies could actually track 100% with everything at the same settings as when the internet originally opened up.

          There ARE two ways to bypass that:

          1. Find an open relay somewhere. Some companies will FIRE you for even TRYING to find one! They often say so in the contract or company policies.
          2. Use Web Email. Many companies are limiting THAT ability and will fire you for using it.

          Both will STILL keep a record, just not on the local machine. At least not by default.

          Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Potentially, they can see e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. you did.
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    Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    Everything is in your browser's history until it gets overwritten or deleted. Even if it's deleted it may a computer forensics specialist may still be able to recover all or part of it. An employer probably wouldn't go to that expense unless they had a reason to suspect you're doing something you shouldn't be on the job.

    Employers can also install software that records every site you visit. I don't know how widespread spying on employees is, but I did read about a someone in a town near here that was fired for surfing porn sites on the job. They used some kind of tracking software.

    If you're worried about it you might want to delete your browser's history ... and then quit doing stuff you shouldn't be at work.
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    Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

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  • Profile picture of the author KimW
    Or they can have something like this installed:
    SpectorSoft - SPECTOR PRO
    Also good for parents keeping an eye on their kids.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Gaskill
    You nailed it Kim, that's the kind of software I was talking about.
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    Just when you think you've got it all figured out, someone changes the rules.

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    • Profile picture of the author krate
      wow....scary
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Originally Posted by krate View Post

    I know at work they can tell what sites were visited, but can they see what you saw, like for example if you checked your personal hotmail online, could they also read your email or if you checked your bank balance online, could they see it? What about seeing your passwords?
    All people have said here is right. NORMALLY, if they are about 5-10 years behind the times, they can only see...

    1. All LOCALLY sent email, or email sent using their servers.
    2. The URLS and all getted parameters you used, via HTTP/S.
    3. Details of all sites accessed through their servers.

    They COULDN'T see your personal hotmail, or bank balance. Of course, like others stated, that is no longer a likely limitation.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author JustinDupre
    The IT department of your company can see everything and anything you access using their resources. That's because the traffic going in and out of your PC passes to the company's servers first.
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  • Profile picture of the author hardraysnight
    I employ 5 computer operators, 24/7 operation, overseas. Every key stroke is recorded along with full video surveillance and a cell phone detector. All incoming action is also recorded. Blow your nose, I know about it.

    I consider my work to be of a confidential nature
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  • Profile picture of the author M A Kay
    There are software that deletes and cleans everything whatever you had open on that day..maybe it could help so you can hide whatever application you are opening..Just a thought,
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