network admin question...

[enstg8er]

What are the network admin limitations and capabilities?

We have the only private computer on the company network. The company network policy is somewhat standard- ponr, gambling, racist/sexist, sites are forbidden. So are illegal activities- warez and the like. With any reasonable effort it is simple to comply.

I have dial-up at home so I download progs like decrypter , shrink and such at work and carry them home. So far I’ve not seen any problems and I’ve even downloaded the itunes player. I would never try to download music, even purchased.

I have bought ebay items and updated my home apps from work. So far so good.

The company uses Norton firewall for its pc’s and has a corporate license. Our personal machine uses kerio. Today while looking over some video related stuff kerio flagged an incoming attempt from the network admin. I denied access and shut down.

What are the capabilities? Can they log each site and save? Can they monitor your actions in real time? What would they be seeking access for? Is this something that is random, triggered, or something specific they want to check out?

I don’t want to be denied access to the network. I hope to be able to continue since nothing is illegal or violates company policy. If I ask them they may become concerned and tell me to stay off the video sites as a precaution. I just don’t know how to best approach this since I don’t know what the situation is.

Anyone know what is happening? What they can access?
what info can they obtain and how do they get it?

thanks..

[Supreme2k]

Yes, admins can log all incoming and outgoing traffic, as well as the computer's IP address. It can be done either at the router or a "filter" server (among other options).

They usually don't pay attention unless it's flagged (such is your case), or extreme over-usage (uploading/downloading very large files).

[enstg8er]

thanks. all's well there.

but why the incoming request? what is the purpose, what additionally would it accomplish?there's nothing on this machine that violates policy.

also this is the only pc on the network that can block access. i wonder what that tells them?

[JSB1]

but why the incoming request? what is the purpose, what additionally would it accomplish?

hmmm... someone is trying to hack INTO your machine.... you might want to log it.

JSB

[thevoelk]

If they use the right tools, network admins can do almost anything. At work, we:

Log every site a user visits.
How long they spend on that site.
Where they link to/from that site.
Log what apps they use, how long it's open, the priority it's given.
What files they download, both through email attachments and the web.
And (this is pretty asinine), how often their smart cards are used.

I would reread the policy your company has written. Just surfing the web for fun, and downloading updates, etc, may be justified as inappropriate use of compnay resources, or something similar. Especially when it concerns a gray area, such as breaking copy protection.