workplace net access

[rodsmith]

Does anyone know how this works? I work for a municipality and was always able to surf anything then one day they switched servers and now I'm denied access just about anything with a hint of "badness". Is this common? Were they able to determine there were surfers to specific websites? It made me really nervous. Any comments appreciated!

 

[ManlyBanisters]

It really depends so much on the setup - theoretically they could know everything you've been looking at, yes. Chances are they've put this new setup in place and it's only from then that they've been able to see, and then who knows if they're logging it - or if anyone looks at the logs.

I guess stop looking

 

[SpoiledPrincess]

I think it's very common, where I work any sites with 'a hint of badness' are blocked, we're not even supposed to look at ebay or access our personal email accounts. We do of course, and the IT guys don't rat us out to the director because we suck up to them

 

[sdbg]

MySpace is blocked on our work computers because someone abused it. Filters can be programmed to restrict access to just about anything. I asked my coworkers to self regulate so there won't be anymore problems.

 

[dong20]

I think many, if not most organisations of any size would have some form of filtering and/or monitoring in place. Many will ask for a signature on a policy, to protect them, not you. Those that don't should.

I work in several places, one main client has tight filtering on the main network but there I work in a small area with my own dedicated t1, as I manage it I can look at what I want. Usually I don't have time, but the option is nice.

Right now, I'm back working in Slovakia and my room has free unrestricted broadband. I guess it's logged but so what, after all LPSG isn't illegal here.....wait, was that a knock at the door...

 

[novice_btm]

It's actually pretty common, especially for larger companies to have filtering. It's done either internally, or through a service from an outside company. I used to have the most random sites pop up with a warning screen, telling me that this was a "bad" site and that if I had a "business reason" for the site to be unblocked to contact the network administrator. Logs are frequently kept of site visits, but in many cases, especially in smaller companies, the network "administrator" either doesn't know how, or doesn't have the time to look at the logs.

 

[GoneA]

Does anyone know how this works? I work for a municipality and was always able to surf anything then one day they switched servers and now I'm denied access just about anything with a hint of "badness". Is this common? Were they able to determine there were surfers to specific websites? It made me really nervous. Any comments appreciated!

Yes, this very common, in fact. This sort of network-security is more pervasive in larger corporations, but smaller businesses certainly have this form of protection, as well.

As a Business-Continuity technologist, I can tell you that technology security is very crucial to the life of a company. Without it, your workplace can be subjected to various viruses, worms and other forms of malware. If your workplace is somehow penetrated by these forms of malicious software, any number of dire things can happen. These “things” range anywhere from (a) software that simply sits in your system to eat up space, to (b) software that is used to glean personal employee information, to (c) software that is used to siphon monies from you companies account(s).

Your municipality could be running any number of antivirus application(s). These applications can – and more than likely – come from McAfee, Norton Antivirus, and/or Checkpoint Software. There are, of course, many more, but these are very popular security companies. If they’re running any applications from these companies, then that is quite possibly the reason as to why the sites you (used to) frequent are no longer available.

It is nothing to be worried about; just know that your place of business has theirs and your protection in mind. What's even better is that they've chosen to act on it.