TFL browsing at workplace

D

dragontooth73

Moderator
After that workplace shooting/mass murder earlier this year in Honolulu, I think general corporate paranoia went up a notch. "Hey it happened to a Fortune 500 company" ... as if all those post office shootings didn't feed the antis enough.

I work in retail (industry: fashion) and I can't even carry around a swiss army knife openly. Friend of mine got reprimanded by management for carrying a blade of ONE INCH to open letters and boxes with (the ones they give us have dull, rounded blades of 1/8" I kid you not) ... same company has a retarded "look but don't touch" attitude towards shoplifters, so it's not surprising they carry incompetence across the board. I seriously hope their stock price sinks a lot lower; maybe it'll wake management up a bit. (unlikely)

Fortunately I don't access TFL from work (no net access allowed) ... but I always erase cache and history from every cybercafe (I register under fake names) and from friends' computers whenever I am done.
 
At the risk of being flamed for being paranoid or insensible, I'd like to bring up that I've read a number of posts on various threads where TFL members report that they work in an anti-gun environment, yet seem to not only log onto TFL from work, but also post that they carry concealed at a workplace that does not recognize RKBA.

Something like 45% of all companies (PC Computing, March 2000) now use monitoring software. Programs such as WinWhatWhere will record every keystroke you make, and numerous other software applications enable sysops to archive deleted email messages on company servers, which can be retrieved very easily. Even if your company doesn't keep track of your netsurfing activities on its server, your PC will have a number of cache files and cookies that will give you away.

Having your workplace snoop on you is of course unpleasant, but there's not much legal protection you can call on. Best thing to do is:

(1) Find out what your company policy is on personal internet use at work, if you already don't know. Find out if they have monitoring software, and if they do, what its capabilities are.

(2) Netscape users should search for a file called "cookies.txt" and delete everything below this message:

# Netscape HTTP Cookie File# http://www.netscape.com/newsref/std/cookie_spec.html#
This is a generated file! Do not edit.

Of course, ignore the last line. Do this after every sitting.

Explorer users should search their Temporary Internet Files for everything that starts with "cookie" and kill it. I think in the newer versions there is a function that allows you to view all cookies. Delete them religiously. All of them.

(3) Both Netscape and Explorer should have functions that allow you to delete cached files. Clear your surfing history from both. With Netscape, goto "Edit" then click "Preferences" and click on "Clear History." With Explorer, goto "Internet Options" then delete your history and cache files.

I also had Norton Utilities installed on my past computers, in order to use a function which allows you to erase deleted files so they can't be retrieved.

I'm sure this isn't an issue for everyone - especially those who log on from home - but with all the increased monitoring out there by government and corporations, it's a matter of time before your socially responsible TFL participation might get snagged by some anti at your work who will use it against you. Having them discover something like "I pack a (favorite CCW weapon) in an IWB at work but they don't know it" is total disaster. I'm sure there are TFLers who can give a better computer security review and references to privacy advocate websites, and perhaps post a number of ways to get around the sysops.

All I can personally recommend is that the best thing to do in order to ensure personal privacy in an anti-workplace is to view TFL from the comfort of your own home. I'm not under the illusion that what I've posted helps any. Many workplaces (like mine) already screw with Constitutional rights in the name of political correctness and company guidelines. Your home is still sacrosanct, thank God. I hope whatever knowledge you gain protects you.

[This message has been edited by dragontooth73 (edited October 29, 2000).]
 
I wish to note that my browsing habits were a sore point during an old performance review but no longer an issue: I only log on during lunch break. As for telling the world "I carry illegaly" -- their own hide is at risk, plus our collective public image. Bad policy, it would seem.
 
It's good idea to delete cookies, but maybe, you should start checking
your proxy server settings too. Everybody who's seen the extract of a
logfile from popular software like Apache, the NetScape servers or the
proxy component from the IIS server, will be startled that their
heroic deeds might be useless.

Deleting your surfing history on your local machine is good. Deleting
the proxy server logfiles is even better.
 
Wow, you guys are vigilant. Deleting cache files? H*ll, I made TFL the home page in the staff office when I set up the internet for my workplace, just to see if anyone would say anything...no one did...they were scared I'd use computer mumbo-jumbo to ruin their lives...

------------------
*quack*
 
What about your "history" file in Netscape & IE?

Should that be cleansed, as well?



------------------
Smith & Wesson is dead to me.

If you want a Smith & Wesson, buy USED!
 
Oya. Check out #3 on my first post. I started doing it after my then-gf started snooping around in my history files some time ago and found I was surfing for knives. She then harangued me for being a *violence-prone maniac* whatever that means ... needless to say she is no longer a part of my life.

mussi is right ... proxy server settings count for a lot. i say try www.anonymizer.com if you must. i already checked and it will support TFL.
 
I am not sure my place of busness cares. We look at all kinds of stuff all the time. I have saved TFL to my partner's favorites.
(No PC at my desk yet)
We also have a great barbecue chicken outfit locally that has port- a- pit chicken at fundraiser events. That is in favorites, also.

We would have no defense if there was a problem with what we did.

------------------
"Any world that I'm welcome to.....Is better than the one I come from"

[This message has been edited by tatters (edited October 29, 2000).]
 
dragontooth73, I appreciate your concern for your brethern and the time you took to assist them in being inconspicuous.

--Denise

--
Train your children right: homeschool!
 
dragontooth,

I am lucky enough to have two computers side by side, one is hooked up to my company's (Federal govt) LAN, but the other is a laptop which I use to surf via modem. I think I am pretty safe with this arrangement, however, I am supposed to be turning the laptop in soon and will be reduced to surreptious surfing or waiting till I get home.

Frosty
Molon Labe
 
If you are in explorer go to internet settings and clear internet temp files and history (in control panel). then tab over to where autocomplete is and check "clear forms", that way your web addresses won't appear when someone types the first 3 letters. But wait - your not done yet, go into windoze explorer or open folders, however you want to do it and delete remaing items in the temporary folders and the cookie folder. At least that's what my "friend" does.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by relic:
How can I get to proxy server logfiles?[/quote]

Get a job as the system administrator.

Not trying to sound rude, but the proxy server is usually secured (at a minimum) by a secret password, usually an admin's password. Often this computer is locked in an access-controlled room as well.


------------------
"People who say guns are bad are lucky enough never to have been in a situation where someone has kicked down your door and threatened the life of your son and your sixty-five-year-old mother."
-- Memphis, Tennessee resident Gina Cushon, quoted in Laura Ingraham's book "The Hillary Trap"
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dragontooth73:
(2) Netscape users should search for a file called "cookies.txt" and delete everything below this message:[/quote]

Actually, with Netscape Navigator version 4 you can delete the entire "cookies.txt" file with no harm done. (I *think* you can do the same with version 3 as well.) It'll recreate the file when it needs it.


------------------
"People who say guns are bad are lucky enough never to have been in a situation where someone has kicked down your door and threatened the life of your son and your sixty-five-year-old mother."
-- Memphis, Tennessee resident Gina Cushon, quoted in Laura Ingraham's book "The Hillary Trap"
 
Re: proxy server files. How does this resp from Senior Member "papercut" square with the earlier comment from Senior Member "mussi"? Does anyone know a way to access the proxy server files other than as an administrator. I'm not trying to start a tussle, just trying to learn to cover myself if possible. Thanks. relic

[This message has been edited by relic (edited November 01, 2000).]
 
Not really my particular piece of IT business, but for all you folks concerned about proxies, not all installations use them. Your company's "IT cops" would have to go to the company's ISP for their logfiles to trace your IP history (I think). There's also another way that our PC LAN administrator was telling me about, but we were up at a Hooter's (watching a sporting event, of course) and I wasn't really paying attention...

On Netscape, you can check your setup under Edit->Preferences->Advanced->Proxies. I don't know about Internet Explorer.
 
Found this the other day, do a search for evidence eliminator,great program!!!

------------------
"i do believe that where there is a choice between cowardice and violence,I would advise violence" Ghandi
 
Okay

While I am an IT Director and don't do much day to day operation anymore, I AM the person at my company that handles this.

Due to the sensitive nature of the information within email and proxy logfiles, I am the only person that has access to them.

Cleaning out cookies and local caches are helpful, but...if it is a company of any size that shares an Internet connection, I can almost assure you that you are using a proxy of some sort. You do this to protect the internal assets, and to optimize the connection for each host behind the proxy (I could get into the technical why/how, but I don't think it's the main point, so I'll avoid it. If you want more info, email me directly)

Proxies can be application or protocol level in nature. An application proxy is what happens in your browser where you tell it under Connections to go out via a proxy. You are telling the application (the browser) that "When you need to get to the Internet, go to this machine and ask it." When the requests reach the proxy, it gets the item from the internet for you and hands it to your browser. During this process, it logs the request and a whole BUNCH o' information about the request. This is easy to tell by checking in your browser to see if there is something listed under proxy settings.

A protocol level proxy, which many larger companies use, is almost impossible for someone to find unless you know what to look for. It involves replacing the protocol stack native to the operating system (winsock.dll under Win 9x) with another file that redirects all protocol requests to another box. When this is used, ALL traffic, not just stuff from the browser, is sent to the proxy and logged. The only way around something like this is to use a redirect service like something like http://www.anonymizer.com which you connect to, and then connects YOU to somewhere else. All that would be logged is repeated requests to the above URL.

Keep in mind that in medium/large organizations, this stuff is hosted in house, not at the ISP. And by combining the proxy logs, and some simple logging at the mail server, you can paint a very detailed picture of an employee's activity.

On the cache/cookie note, you can easily find utilities to manage the destruction of these. They can also be automatically be set to clear themselves out. There is also a program called TweakUI for Win 9x that allows you to manage many settings about the Windows environment. It also includes a tab called Paranoia that enables you to clear your history, cache, recycle bin, last login and recently used documents EVERYTIME you reboot. Very nice and requires no intervention.

These programs can probably be found easily at http://www.winfiles.com...search for TweakUI.

Hope this helps.

aiki

------------------
The fox provides for himself, but God provides for the lion--R. Kipling
 
Whoops...if you want more info, my public email is aikidoka@pacbell.net

aiki

------------------
The fox provides for himself, but God provides for the lion--R. Kipling
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top