posted
I know this has been an issue for some people, anyway. So, I thought it would be interesting to see if anyone knew of any browsers within browsers and the like? Or am I being totally naive and there's no way to get around a firewall at work without installing programs of some sort?
posted
There are probably ways to get around a firewall at work, but you should know your company's policies very well before even trying. That's grounds for immediate dismissal where I work.
Posts: 6394 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
got a question. I didn't realize we were supposed to close our internet browsers when we left our desk?
The guys down here (who are often less tech-savvy than my meager knowledge) are saying that the IT software will show we are on the internet the entire time we have internet explorer up. I thought it only showed when you made a connection like to refresh a page or something. I meant it will occasionally auto refresh as well but I didn't think you were using bandwith the entire time. Is this normal?
posted
I believe you are correct. Unless you are streaming audio/video through your browser (like an internet radio station), regular web sites are request/response systems. You request a URL, and the server responds with the web page. After that, nothing happens until you request something else.
posted
Even when you're not sending and recieving info, you still have a connection to the internet. (edit: actually, i suppose this is dependent on how the company does their internet requests.) On most networks, this is normally not dependent on whether or not your browser is open.
posted
Storm, the issue is that some companies monitor the AMOUNT you use the Internet, to dissuade so-called "abuse."
In general, this is done through logging of the sites accessed, NOT through the length of time IE or another browser is left open -- although I suppose a company could do it the other way, if they were particularly silly.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
Ah. Interesting. I was thinking she was saying the company had setup some kind of www tunnel autologin/off that only stayed on only as long as the browser was up.
Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
I may ask specifics from the IT guy that likes me because I'm not as blazingly incompetent as the rest of the people down here, in other words I actually do defrag my computer.
posted
Stormy I'm still MOSTLY incompetent on background computer stuff, even if I can do the most of the basics maintenance like scan disking and defragging if I remember. (Steve's gotten mad at me when I haven't defragged and started complaining to him about my computer speed) So don't ever attribute much technological expertise to anything I say.
posted
No wasn't responding to that post. What I'm saying is I have no idea what www tunnel autologin/off is or whether our company has it or not!<grin>
posted
er...I don't really, either. I'm just guessing. I'm probably not much higher up the IT knowledge food chain than you are. Posts: 13123 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
If you're required to log in (user name and password) to get out to the internet, there is the possibility of some network person running accounting logs on your internet connection. This is generally done per website; I don't know how they'd go about finding out how long you had a particular browser open. Even then, with just straight web traffic, getting a time on how long you spent on the internet is problematic. Like Tom said, it'd be easier just to see when the first web-page you hit, and when you stopped generating traffic.
Chat programs, like AIM and Yahoo are notoriously difficult to stop via a firewall. I could be wrong, but file sharing programs like BitTorrent are also difficult to stop. (This doesn't go for Kazaa, which uses a particular port, or Napster which does as well).
AIM can be used to transfer files as well.
The best way to get through a firewall is earn enough trust from the company to warrant the connection you want.
Otherwise, you risk being fired, or sued.
Posts: 14554 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
In my company, trying to circumvent the firewall is grounds for immediate termination, as is using an unauthorized chat program (ie: for my group, it's everything by ICQ, but the rules are different for each group).
Sounds silly, but I've known people who have been fired for running chat programs and one who was punished for FTP'ing personal files back and forth from work. It sounds silly, but they justify these actions by forbidding the installation of unauthorized programs.
If you're chomping at the bit to get at the net without permission, you'd probably be better off trying to be a good friend with the IT staff who check the logs, or use an alternate connection method (for example, I use my cell phone as a modem on my laptop at night).
Posts: 851 | Registered: Oct 2001
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I finally resorted to sneaking in a laptop and simply dialed up by using our fax line. However, I could only afford to ignore fax services on the weekends, so my internet time at work was more a luxury for minutes at a time. Plus, I had this laptop sitting in my office area that really should not have been there. Ever. Oh well!
posted
They could have a program running that lists all of the processes, and tracks what progams you are running, and report that back to a "central" location.
Thats about all I can think of.
Posts: 1132 | Registered: Jul 2002
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