Surfing at Work

FourBear · 22-02-2007, 03:54 AM

Is general websurfing allowed at work, or are you monitored? We are allowed to visit a few sites, but if we visit ones that have been declared off-limits, we risk our internet usage being restricted.

Joel007 · 22-02-2007, 08:55 AM

Monitored and blocked! Most websites we can't get on, sometimes including ones we need for work

They also have a log that some lucky guy in IT gets to skim through and look for suspicious stuff. The firewall is only up from 9:00-12:00 and 2:00-5:30.
We have found numerous ways around it, being an IT company

However, the IT department finally stopped giving themselves work-arounds, and have just locked everything down with no loopholes. There are ways around it, but you'd probably get caught.

mtatum4496 · 23-02-2007, 04:29 PM

Part of my job with my last employer was to find potential new clients, as well as do research on current clients, so I spent a fair amount of my day surfing the net. Of course a good rule of thumb is to not go to any site that you now will get your behind in a fix.

Slashmire · 23-02-2007, 08:13 PM

Many industries have problems related to web surfing (yeah you government jobs people

) but here at work, since it's quite useful, our monitored level is a bit low, but present nonetheless.

eldragon · 23-02-2007, 08:58 PM

It's a serious time-waster for most companies. Why would you get paid to surf the internet?

Unless it's part of your job, it's not something an employee should be doing on the employers dime.

mtatum4496 · 24-02-2007, 04:33 PM

yeah, it can be a waste of productive time if your job does not involve researching or looking for new clients. I sometimes wonder why you give an employee access to an Internet browser if he or she does not need to use the Internet as part of the job.

eldragon · 25-02-2007, 03:28 PM

And employees should be aware that their recent searches are usually saved for reference by their employer. So, if ebay or myspace comes up - they'll know it wasn't work related.

mtatum4496 · 26-02-2007, 04:52 PM

yep, exactly. of course, there are instances where one ends up a site that is totally not what they thought it would be. I remember one time we had a visitor in the office and my boss and I were going to take her to a new restaurant for lunch. We thought we would look them up quickly and check out the menu for the day. So I turned around to my computer and keyed in what I thought was the URL for the restaurant.

The restaurant was named Southern Pleasures. I typed it in as a "com".

Big mistake. The restaurant URL was actually a "net"

The "com: location did not feature any food, but it did offer plenty to look at, if you catch my drift LOL

eldragon · 27-02-2007, 12:08 AM

I understand completely what you mean. Just like my nine year old daughter loves to look at American Girl dolls and clothes, etc. Just type in "American Girl," though and you might not get the right site.

mtatum4496 · 27-02-2007, 01:49 AM

I've seen search records before and they always come with record of how long the page was up for display. You can pretty well guess that if it was up for ten or fifteen seconds that the user got to the web site by accident, flug their eyes wide open, probably let out a yelp, looked around to make sure notbody saw what they were looking at and then shut down the browser window.

22-02-2007, 03:54 AM	#1 (permalink)
FourBear Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 58	Surfing at Work Is general websurfing allowed at work, or are you monitored? We are allowed to visit a few sites, but if we visit ones that have been declared off-limits, we risk our internet usage being restricted.

22-02-2007, 08:55 AM	#2 (permalink)
Joel007 Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Northampton, England Posts: 82	Monitored and blocked! Most websites we can't get on, sometimes including ones we need for work They also have a log that some lucky guy in IT gets to skim through and look for suspicious stuff. The firewall is only up from 9:00-12:00 and 2:00-5:30. We have found numerous ways around it, being an IT company However, the IT department finally stopped giving themselves work-arounds, and have just locked everything down with no loopholes. There are ways around it, but you'd probably get caught.

23-02-2007, 04:29 PM	#3 (permalink)
mtatum4496 Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 44	Part of my job with my last employer was to find potential new clients, as well as do research on current clients, so I spent a fair amount of my day surfing the net. Of course a good rule of thumb is to not go to any site that you now will get your behind in a fix.

23-02-2007, 08:13 PM	#4 (permalink)
Slashmire Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 37	Many industries have problems related to web surfing (yeah you government jobs people ) but here at work, since it's quite useful, our monitored level is a bit low, but present nonetheless.

23-02-2007, 08:58 PM	#5 (permalink)
eldragon Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 34	It's a serious time-waster for most companies. Why would you get paid to surf the internet? Unless it's part of your job, it's not something an employee should be doing on the employers dime.

24-02-2007, 04:33 PM	#6 (permalink)
mtatum4496 Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 44	yeah, it can be a waste of productive time if your job does not involve researching or looking for new clients. I sometimes wonder why you give an employee access to an Internet browser if he or she does not need to use the Internet as part of the job.

25-02-2007, 03:28 PM	#7 (permalink)
eldragon Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 34	And employees should be aware that their recent searches are usually saved for reference by their employer. So, if ebay or myspace comes up - they'll know it wasn't work related.

26-02-2007, 04:52 PM	#8 (permalink)
mtatum4496 Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 44	yep, exactly. of course, there are instances where one ends up a site that is totally not what they thought it would be. I remember one time we had a visitor in the office and my boss and I were going to take her to a new restaurant for lunch. We thought we would look them up quickly and check out the menu for the day. So I turned around to my computer and keyed in what I thought was the URL for the restaurant. The restaurant was named Southern Pleasures. I typed it in as a "com". Big mistake. The restaurant URL was actually a "net" The "com: location did not feature any food, but it did offer plenty to look at, if you catch my drift LOL

27-02-2007, 12:08 AM	#9 (permalink)
eldragon Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 34	I understand completely what you mean. Just like my nine year old daughter loves to look at American Girl dolls and clothes, etc. Just type in "American Girl," though and you might not get the right site.

27-02-2007, 01:49 AM	#10 (permalink)
mtatum4496 Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 44	I've seen search records before and they always come with record of how long the page was up for display. You can pretty well guess that if it was up for ten or fifteen seconds that the user got to the web site by accident, flug their eyes wide open, probably let out a yelp, looked around to make sure notbody saw what they were looking at and then shut down the browser window.