Workplace Internet policies?

[Gator95]

Pretty much same as crokett. I work for a large company in the bottom of the F500 and we've got a written policy that lays out the rules... but in practice non-offensive material on your own time is fine. Treated kind of like talking around the water cooler. As long as you are getting your work done and not doing anything that could get the company in trouble it's not an issue.

[pelligrini]

I'm in a pretty small office and the only policy is no un-workrelated video. There are some good ACAD tip videos and product installation ones. The boss walked in on the gal we hired to do 3D renderings watching TV, and promptly issued a no video memo.

We're pretty much open policy, as long as you get your work done. I'll have to get on a couple of the downstairs drafting crew on occaision for spending too much time browsing, myself included.

We use Yahoo IM in the office for communication quite a bit.

[Kristofor]

I am all for blocking porn and even social networking sites. But our clinic firewall/filter is so restrictive it blocks pretty much all streaming media (can't listen to Rhapsody or Pandora at work), won't allow me to install an educational DVD that links to company website, and even screws up hotmail.

Too much IMO.

If you worked in a potato chip factory I'd agree more or less. But from a technical and legal perspective it's MUCH easier to block access to hotmail and the like then to try and monitor your now semi-private email to see if you're sharing information about old man Wlison's new case of herpes that he somehow didn't catch from his wife... If you do that on your own PC and your own time they're less likely to be on the hook for that type of misbehavior.

Even if you don't have the intent to share information, there are lots of malware apps that can grab and share the content of documents on your PC or data/keystrokes in realtime. While blocking internet access cannot prevent all types/methods of infection, my personal experience is that it eliminates 95%+ of the problem. This is particualrly true in an environment with shared PCs, and a lower sense of accountability which that provides.

[germdoc]

It doesn't block hotmail, it just screws it up. Not sure why.

True story: when I was at Landstuhl Army Med. Center our commander Gen. Kevin Kiley (yes, the same one forced out by Walter Reed scandal) pushed for all docs to have PC's on their desk, so they could read medical literature, exchange information, etc. One day he visited Radiology section and observed a buddy of mine reviewing Sports Illustrated swimsuit models online. He quietly said, "Major Smith, I can see you're putting the computer I got you to good use." Maj. Smith turned 3 shades of purple.

[Hellrazor]

There is a computer use policy at work. They had a TOS pop up during boot that forced you to hit enter before the PC continued to boot. Regedit is your friend...

Anyone who has to go through the proxy is limited to some degree. Those of us with a static ip can bypass the proxy and do as we please (within reason).

[JR]

An article from NPR discussing this very topic. IBM is mentioned prominently.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/d...oking_workers/

[cwsmith]

I've been retired for the last five years, but at the place I spent too much of my life in, the company computer was considered for company business only! Internet access was NOT generally available and for any employee to have it, one needed the approval of their senior manager and the recommedation of their department's security person. I did the security setups and coordination with the system's group for my sections access to both internet and any directories on our WAN.

While porn didn't necessarily get you fired, it certainly got you a serious talking too by everyone concerned. Basically it was not recognized as what it was, but more or less fell into "non-business use of a company asset". Constantly monitoring the stock market, CNN, or E-mailing your friend and family around the world could very well put you in line for removal from the limited access internet list.

Also of concern were games, software sharing, and other non-business related activity across both the LAN and WAN systems. Biggest reason was overburdening of the system.

All in all, everyone knew the rules and there were only a few notable cases.

I don't know the situation there today, but I imagine the security and use concerns have grown as the need arises.

CWS

[LinuxRandal]

As shown, this isn't a one size fits all situation. I've heard my father talk about the old IBM days, to some IRS folks mention how locked down their systems were.
There were a lot of school situations on the net a few years ago, because the kids have grown up around computers, and are more computer literate, then the teachers/low level techs.

I've followed some of the hacking/cracking stuff, just to know what/how to try to secure my own network (nothing is bulletproof). I've read about people bringing in their own wireless routers, and trying to VPN through the company work. I've also read about using a bootable Linux distro, to eliminate any cache issues.
Then I know about my mom, wanting to check a price, before an auction ended on a Little Lulu item. Those two words brought up a LOT of adult stuff.

[billwmeyer]

Barracuda

My company recently added the barracuda web filter. It stops access to a lot of web sites. It has a few flaws, as one of my coworkeres had yellowpages.com blocked as a porn site. They got that fixed I understand. Some sites like CNN it doesn't block, but it messes it up. I don't know if they monitor us or not.

Bill