What are your employees up to

[UnleashedIT]

Do you know or want to know what your employees are up to on their PC's when you are not around? Monitoring software is very cost efficient can give immediate cost benefits in productivity.

 

[RaySaj]

this can be counter productive as well no? especially when senior personnel feel the need to be creative......often people work with numerous screens open and a 30 secound distraction helps focus the mind for better productivity...........

 

[Paul_Rosser]

If you have the correct web filtering and endpoint controls in place then you don't need to monitor them as they can't install any non business software and can only visit legit websites.

 

[casfan]

Agreed you just need proper web filtering and your network set up with correct permissions and shares. I assume you have a strong AUP.

Then you have to think about the backlash you would get if you installed the monitoring software and the legal side of it. Much more hassle then its worth

 

[Paul_Rosser]

AUP is more of a policy which explains to staff what they can/can't do on their work computer.

I'm more in favour of endpoint controls which actually stop the user from being able to do things like use unauthorised USB sticks, installing software etc.

Coming from an IT security background I'm very aware the weakest link in any security solution is the users. Firms spend millions on protecting their network, just for a user to plug a usb stick into their pc and introduce a virus to the network.

With employee monitoring you get into all sorts of troubles about privacy as who should actually do the monitoring ? The employees boss ? What if that employee is making a complaint to HR regarding their boss and he see's emails about it ?

Realistically the only people who can/should monitor staff's PC would be HR and they have better things to do generally.

 

[casfan]

I agree with the endpoint solution and locking down as much as possible, monitoring software is more of a trust issue.

 

[darren atkinson]

I think you just need better employees who care about their job, then give them the freedom to do what they want, if they don't perform then they are moved on.

In this day and age I can't see any reason why companies should have to put up with staff taking the pi$$ on work's time, and if a company can't deal with this then they obviously have some management issues as well.

Locking down PC's and monitoring what staff do is not what I would recommend, monitor output and morale, that's much more effective for your business.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

I think you just need better employees who care about their job, then give them the freedom to do what they want, if they don't perform then they are moved on.

Giving employees the freedom to do what they want leads to staff causing all sorts of issues, including accessing illegal material which leaves you as the employer in a lot of trouble.

Locking down PC's and monitoring what staff do is not what I would recommend, monitor output and morale, that's much more effective for your business.

Depends on the size of the business, when you are employing 500+ staff then you need to have proper endpoint controls in place, especially when storing highly sensitive client data.

 

[BrewsterLimited]

I am under the belief that you should be able to trust your employees and with the correct management in place then they wouldnt be taking the piss on works time!

Many hard honest employees would feel hard done by and judge wrongly if they knew they were being monitored and this would lead to a decreased level of morale!

 

[Paul_Rosser]

For lots of companies (banks etc.) monitoring is standard practice, for smaller firms it's not workable, but there should be controls in place to ensure they can't use your computers to compromise network security or break the law.

However lots of firms don't do this and thats why in my digital forensics days I found lots of "work" pc's were full of porn (sometimes illegal stuff) and illegal music/movies.

As an employer if you don't have procedures in place and make steps to limit what your staff can do, then you can be held liable for what your staff get up to.

There is also the issue of what your staff are doing with client data, if someone was leaving your company to start another in direct competition would you really want them copying all your data offsite so they can pick through it later ?

 

[UnleashedIT]

This is not just about monitoring what they are looking at on-line it is about making people more productive and keep them off social networking or general web browsing when they are supposed to be working.

 

[James Ties]

Sometimes cameras are a big help when you want to know what your company is doing...

 

[David A]

Recently got rid of an employee who was taking the p.

Within a week of starting, she was on Facebook and e-bay for a considerable time. She was given a written warning and referred to the company handbook (which she received on starting) which gives the company policy on internet use (which is quite flexible, provided permission is sought prior). We only realised the amount of company time used this way when another employee used the machine, and noticed the history file was full of her non-work related internet use.

After her warning, she then became devious, and made sure that the browser options were set to not record history.

The company handbook said that the company reserved the right to monitor computer use, so we bought some key-logging software. Our supervisor finishes at 3.15 to pick up her youngsters from school, whereas this employee worked to 5pm, on a computer not easily seen by other workers. We were amazed when the daily reports came in that almost as soon as the supervisor left, almost the whole of the time till finish (other than answering phone calls) was spent surfing the net (but making sure her history was not being recorded in the browser).

As she had only clocked up 4 months, rather than make an issue about the internet use, we just terminated her employment.

An estimate was that she was clocking up between 6 and 8 hours a week surfing the net - yet the company was paying her to benefit the company, not herself, in these hours.

 

[Paul_Rosser]

Recently got rid of an employee who was taking the p.

Within a week of starting, she was on Facebook and e-bay for a considerable time. She was given a written warning and referred to the company handbook (which she received on starting) which gives the company policy on internet use (which is quite flexible, provided permission is sought prior). We only realised the amount of company time used this way when another employee used the machine, and noticed the history file was full of her non-work related internet use.

After her warning, she then became devious, and made sure that the browser options were set to not record history.

The company handbook said that the company reserved the right to monitor computer use, so we bought some key-logging software. Our supervisor finishes at 3.15 to pick up her youngsters from school, whereas this employee worked to 5pm, on a computer not easily seen by other workers. We were amazed when the daily reports came in that almost as soon as the supervisor left, almost the whole of the time till finish (other than answering phone calls) was spent surfing the net (but making sure her history was not being recorded in the browser).

As she had only clocked up 4 months, rather than make an issue about the internet use, we just terminated her employment.

An estimate was that she was clocking up between 6 and 8 hours a week surfing the net - yet the company was paying her to benefit the company, not herself, in these hours.

If you use an internet filtering system such as scansafe, then all employees internet useage can be reported on regardless of if they use inprivate browsing to hide their history.

You can also set rules which state which sites employees can and can't visit and which times the rules apply.

Prevention is better than cure