Help me not get fired for reading the Dope at work....

[GiantRat]

Well, on the one hand, you could just ask if it’s ok to take momentary joy-rides (everyone does, in one way or another). If you happen to do it by reading the Dope, then it’s better than playing solitaire.

It’s possible for your employer (if they know IT to Wireshark you or do ARP traces, but not likely in an 8 (wo)man shop).

It’s just like the old days, when we had to write cheesy macros to type “CLS” for us in a hurry (CLS = CLear Screen).

[Hail_Ants]

A really, really basic thing to remember:

ALT + TAB

If someone is about to be able to see your screen press and release these two keys to quickly minimize IE and switch to your desktop or another open program.

[the_diego]

Tell them you’re settling an office dispute. You don’t get fired for googling, do you?

[Dog80]

@TimeWinder

He’s in private browsing mode. No history is being saved, anyway.

Summarizing what others have said, there are four places you leave traces when you use Internet services:

1. On your local machine: This is the one folks usually think of: cookies, internet browsing history, bookmarks, that sort of thing. This is easy to take care of: don’t use bookmarks, and turn on your browser’s private mode to prevent it from caching the rest.

2. On your local router/proxy server/bridge/gateway/etc. This is where companies usually institute policy. It’s basically a record of what sites (or IP addresses) are visited by which machines. It almost always requires someone actually turning it on, and definitely requires a little technical knowledge to get to and use. If your local machine is using DHCP (that is “Get an IP address automatically” in Windows), then these records are even less useful, since they often won’t tie to a specific local machine. If this is being monitored by someone who knows what they’re doing, there’s nothing you can do about it unless you have physical access to the logs, in which case you could delete them. (Of course, that might be a felony, depending on the business need for those logs.)

3. Your ISP. Same sort of deal here; it’s possible to turn on logging and keep track of what connections go where, when. You have absolutely no control over this, but most ISP’s take a fairly hands-off approach this this: they’ll only actively monitor if the police bring them a warrant and ask them to. You might get fired, but it doesn’t sound like you’re committing any actual crimes, so there’s unlikely to be a warrant out for your data.

4. The site you’re visiting. Using Javascript, HTML puts, or just server-side programming, the site can keep track of incoming requests, site visits, etc. For example, the SDMB keeps track of logins and times (you can see your last login at the top of the screen). This can be anywhere from benevolent (like the SDMB offering you a service) to malign (like websites attempting to compromise your browser). You can minimize this by turning off javascript (although I find that causes more problems than it fixes), don’t use logins or passwords anywhere, and/or using an anonymizing service that “bounces” your IP through somewhere else and hides the incoming trail. This is the domain of the seriously paranoid, and frankly if you need that level of privacy, it’s better to stay off the net altogether. Again, you have basically no control over what they do with the information you give them.

Very comprehensive description!

I would add between 1 and 2, some Man in the Middle setup.

A real life example: At one time I was sure that somebody was abusing my company’s free Wifi. Since the router itself was a cheap residential device and had very limited logging capability, I took a computer with two bridged ethernet interfaces. I connected the modem to one port and the wifi router to the other and had Wireshark keep a copy of every packet that went through that bridge.

Totaly transparent and impossible for an end user to detect.

[Patty_O_Furniture]

This is what I used to so when I worked for the DC Government - actively look for folks who were doing things they shouldn’t have been doing.

It takes a great deal of skill, time and resources. I seriously doubt that any company, big or small, is going to be interested in doing this unless the illicit activity is causing problems for other folks who are trying to use the office network to do their jobs.

Streaming media such as you tube videos and music will do that. Reading mostly-text web pages, not at all.

[ski]

Am I the only person to think of the obvious way to prevent being caught surfing SDMB at work? Don’t surf SDMB at work!

I mean, I do too, but if my continued employment would be possibly put in jeopardy by me doing it, I’d just stop without a second thought. As fun as this board is, there’s nothing to read here that’s worth losing a job over.

[chappachula]

@ski

Don’t surf SDMB at work!
As fun as this board is, there’s nothing to read here that’s worth losing a job over.

(see my post #8)

[Snnipe_70E]

My son says use remote software and open straight dope on your home computer.

[Turble]

If everybody stopped doing the Dope at work, the forums would be as dead during the week as they are on the weekends.

[Dangerosa]

@Patty_O_Furniture

This is what I used to so when I worked for the DC Government - actively look for folks who were doing things they shouldn’t have been doing.

It takes a great deal of skill, time and resources. I seriously doubt that any company, big or small, is going to be interested in doing this unless the illicit activity is causing problems for other folks who are trying to use the office network to do their jobs.

Streaming media such as you tube videos and music will do that. Reading mostly-text web pages, not at all.

When I did this job we looked for two things - bandwidth usage (streaming) and porn (we watched photos and would trace the hot Asian redheads). The streaming photo feed we’d watch at the pop and was a hoot - lots of house shopping, shoes, sports photos - and hot Asian redheads.

[digs]

@Jake

If your boss does find out about the 'Dope, (which I doubt he will) inform him that the site contains pertinent information relating to your job. Which there undoubtedly is.

I’d cover myself by starting a thread specifically asking “Anybody know about [info for your job]?” (Sure, it can be a MPSIMS). You can even cover yourself by mentioning off-handedly to the boss “Oh, by the way, fixed that problem; found out how online.”

Then, if you ever do get called on the carpet, you can truthfully say “SDMB? Oh, that. I check that site when I need good advice on how to fix problems we run into here. I mentioned it to you the other day.”

My boss knows I check with a “discussion board full of geniuses” when stymied.
Little does she know about the Workplace rants… bwah-ha-haaaaa!

[The_Second_Stone]

I wish I could fire me for reading the SDMB when I’m supposed to be working. Like right now. TSS, you’re fired! Thanks TSS, now I’ll never get those briefs done and can read SDMB all the time. CURSES! Get that brief done! But you fired me! Back to work! Rassafrassin’ wabbit.

[Mijin]

@digs

Then, if you ever do get called on the carpet, you can truthfully say “SDMB? Oh, that. I check that site when I need good advice on how to fix problems we run into here. I mentioned it to you the other day.”

Ok that’s fine, but why is the current thread on your screen “Animals Engaging in Anal Sex”?

[Evil_Captor]

@Anaamika

Honestly? I will tell you the best way. Work really, really hard. Don’t just do your work, do extra work. Be cheerful and pleasant at all times and be eager to take more work. Do more than your share.

Then, when someone catches you reading the Dope, as will inevitably happen, you can legitimately that you use it for downtime and it doesn’t interfere with your work. When they have seen the quality of your work, it will bother them less that you surf, too.

BUT if they think it’s interfering with your work, if you’re not getting projects done, then you have no recourse.

Let’s apply some logic here. He’s been there 25 years, he’s probably a pretty good worker. If he’s not a good worker, that means the company probably tolerate not-good workers, so he’s safe either way.

[Maserschmidt]

@Hail_Ants

A really, really basic thing to remember:

ALT + TAB

If someone is about to be able to see your screen press and release these two keys to quickly minimize IE and switch to your desktop or another open program.

An experienced manager can not only spot this from a mile away, but he even knows what it sounds like.

[Khadaji]

The Dope was blocked at my last job. At my current job they are pretty much like: do whatever you want, as long as you get the job done. They even joke about going to porn sites.

[Nippless]

Anyone know what the bandwidth footprint is for SDMB? Say I’m opening 5 sub-forums and 10 threads in each.

[Patty_O_Furniture]

There are too many variables involved.

Using tapatalk, I just opened the forum and loaded this thread (page 1, posts 1-20) and my phone reports 48KB sent and 106KB received.

Then I jumped to page 2 (posts 21-37) and the numbers went up to 69KB and 132KB.

This could vary quite a bit depending on the length of individual posts and embedded formatting, but I suspect most routine office emails are larger than the average SDMB thread.