Work internet?

[c-towns]

If my work was going to see how much time i spend on the internet at work, where would they look on my computer? Also if they wanted to see what content I was looking at where would they go?

[ollie]

Tbey would look at the server logs which are probably out of your hands.

We got wind of a potential internet audit here. Bye bye jambands.ca!

[Patchoulia]

Thank god I work at a gigantic disorganized company...they'll never get around to that..*fingers crossed*...

[Basher]

Indeed, the server logs would be polled. Nothing you can do to hide your activity.

[Hal Johnson]

Not sure, but I know at my work our managers can watch what your looking at while your looking at it - and you never even know! Its creepy shit, for sure. I just assume theyre reading this right now - and that they're probably really bored by it, so no harm done.

[bradm]

Tbey would look at the server logs which are probably out of your hands.

I think you mean "router" rather than "server."

Aloha,

Brad

[Basher]

Hey Hal, when we were evaluating call monitoring solutions for our centre, several of the high-priced solutions offered real-time screen monitoring in their package. The thinking was that you could find inefficiencies in representative techniques, and incorporate suggestions into feedback. Of course, most reps view this as a Big Brother tactic, which it most surely is.

As I walk around my department, I can see that many reps take liberties with the web WHILE they are supposed to be serving our customers.

Thankfully, at least for me, I am given a LOT of leeway in this area, as part of management. Also, I know what it takes to get fired at my company, and I don't see myself taking a swing at a superior anytime soon, especially since my boss works from California.

[ollie]

Tbey would look at the server logs which are probably out of your hands.

I think you mean "router" rather than "server."

Aloha' date='

Brad[/quote']

I don't think so. But feel free to expand on that.

I did, however, mean to type "They" and not "Tbey".

[bradm]

Tbey would look at the server logs which are probably out of your hands.

I think you mean "router" rather than "server."

Aloha' date='

Brad[/quote']

I don't think so. But feel free to expand on that.

In most discussions about surfing the web, "server" is the term used for the machine where the web pages are located and from which they're delivered to the client (i.e., the web browser program on your machine). www.jambands.ca is a web server, for example. There are dedicated pieces of gear between your machine (the client) and the web server machine that are used to route the request from your machine to the server; they're usually called routers and are made by companies like Cisco.

The term proxy server may be used if your organization has a machine (somewhere between your machine and the internet) that intercepts your requests and substitutes itself as the requester (i.e., acts as a proxy for you); proxy servers can also do things like authenticate you (so that you have to supply a user ID and password to gain external network access) and restrict which web sites you can visit. If that's what you meant by "server," then, yes, your boss could get valuable information from it, but in most discussions about the web, the term "server logs" refers to the logs located on the web server itself; they're really useful to whoever's running the server (hi, bouche!), but can't be accessed by people who aren't administrators of it, so wouldn't be useful to your boss.

Aloha,

Brad

[bouche]

www.jambands.ca is a web server, for example.

www.jambands.ca is not a server. It's a domain name that points (is routed) to a computer that is setup as a server with LAMP architecture.

[ollie]

The term proxy server may be used if your organization has a machine (somewhere between your machine and the internet) that intercepts your requests and substitutes itself as the requester (i.e., acts as a proxy for you); proxy servers can also do things like authenticate you (so that you have to supply a user ID and password to gain external network access) and restrict which web sites you can visit. If that's what you meant by "server," then, yes, your boss could get valuable information from it, but in most discussions about the web, the term "server logs" refers to the logs located on the web server itself; they're really useful to whoever's running the server (hi, bouche!), but can't be accessed by people who aren't administrators of it, so wouldn't be useful to your boss.

All I meant was that the logs are stored on the server, regardless of whether the log is tracking router activity or not. Does that not make them, in a general and completely acceptable in common parlance sense, "server logs"?

As for that information being useful to my boss, what typically happens is that the boss asks the web administrator for a report on web usage. That report is then useful to the boss.

[bouche]

here's an example of what a SERVER logs can show you. Don't think that your boss doesn't have access to information like this, only in reverse.

[Booche]

If my boss asks me for a weblog, I am simply going to show him the following picture:

[bradm]

All I meant was that the logs are stored on the server

What do you mean by "the server"? The logs may be stored on a server (e.g., a file server), but they're not logs of what that server is doing; instead, the logs are produced by another machine (e.g., a router, or a firewall).

regardless of whether the log is tracking router activity or not. Does that not make them, in a general and completely acceptable in common parlance sense, "server logs"?

Not to me. A log produced by a server is a "server log"; a log produced by a router is a "router log." Either could be stored on a file server, an end-user's PC, or a CD-R; where they're stored is irrelevant to the term used for them, which instead designates who (or what) produced them.

As for that information being useful to my boss, what typically happens is that the boss asks the web administrator for a report on web usage. That report is then useful to the boss.

OK, but the report is generated from logs of the things (like routers, or proxy servers) handling the traffic; your web administrator has no access to the logs of the servers that form or are used by www.jambands.ca.

Aloha,

Brad

[ollie]

Quit being such a pedantic nerd Brad. You got me on the semantics, but don't tell me the spirit of what I said is wrong.

[bouche]

OK, but the report is generated from logs of the things (like routers, or proxy servers) handling the traffic; your web administrator has no access to the logs of the servers that form or are used by www.jambands.ca.

Are you saying that his network can't tell what sites he visits? I'm pretty sure they can. They can also tell how much bandwidth he's been using and I'm sure they are logged somewhere on a server.

[bradm]

OK' date=' but the report is generated from logs of the things (like routers, or proxy servers) handling the traffic; your web administrator has no access to the logs of the servers that form or are used by www.jambands.ca.

[/quote']

Are you saying that his network can't tell what sites he visits? I'm pretty sure they can.

Sure they can, and nothing I wrote implied they can't. (I should have added "within your organization's network" after "handling the traffic.")

They can also tell how much bandwidth he's been using and I'm sure they are logged somewhere on a server.

Yes, and the logs are produced by the traffic handlers (e.g., routers, or proxy servers) within your organization.

Aloha,

Brad

[bradm]

If my work was going to see how much time i spend on the internet at work, where would they look on my computer? Also if they wanted to see what content I was looking at where would they go?

To summarize from the argy-bargy discussion bouche, ollie, and I have been having: while they could look on your computer, more likely they'd examine the records (the "logs") of the network equipment in your organization to see which PCs are sending requests where (and when, and how often).

If you're concerned about this, see if your organization has an "acceptable use" policy for exmployees accessing the internet, as it should spell out what's allowed and not allowed (both in terms of which sites you can/can't visit, and how often and such).

Aloha,

Brad

[wavinginthewind]

Nerd Forum please.

[ollie]

To summarize from the argy-bargy discussion bouche, ollie, and I have been having: while they could look on your computer, more likely they'd examine the records (the "logs") of the network equipment in your organization to see which PCs are sending requests where (and when, and how often).

Which is pretty much what I said in my reply to c-towns. But thanks for ignoring that.

[wavinginthewind]

^^^Nerd fight^^^

[bokonon]

Nerd Forum please.

Beat me to it.

[Booche]

[c-towns]

So they could possibly track how long I'm on this site even if the window is just open for a while or do i have to be navigating around the site in order to keep a running time on on it?

[badams]

To sum up this thread...

STAY OFF THE INTERNET IF YOU SUSPECT THERE IS ANYONE AT YOUR ORGANIZATION CAPABLE OF TRACKING YOUR SURFING!

Continue on nerds...