Any hacks to download stuff "at work" (1 Viewer)

[Chad Isaacs]

I recently stepped down from a management position at work. At my previous desk I had full run of my computer. I like to keep yahoo messenger on my computer so I do not tie up the phone lines if anything happens at home. Now that I am just on a regular old piss on's desk I don't have full access and when I try to open the program it says I do not have admin abilities anymore.

Any ideas or am I screwed?

 

[Jason Guardiano]

You might be able to use the Yahoo web messenger..
At the Bottom

If Java is disabled, probably it won't work either. I assume this is on a Windows XP machine?

 

[Chad Isaacs]

No, we use 2000

 

[Patrick_S]

Just curious but why when you were in management did you have full control of your computer but now you don't?

 

[Glenn Overholt]

This probably won't work, but with my last company I went into DOS, and although there wasn't any index, I found EVERYTHING - and then some!

Or maybe you can set up a link from outside work?

Glenn

 

[Mike Graham]

Maybe try to go out with it, these messenger services cause a hell of a lot of problems at work and they aren't worth it.

 

[NickSo]

maybe try www.e-messenger.net

 

[Paul D G]

They tried to prevent us from using IM at work, until we asked if they liked paying for our international calls to the Euro offices.

Maybe try something like Trillian which will access AOL, Yahoo and MSN systems.

-paul

 

[Shane Martin]

Trillian needs admin access so that's a no go either.

Just play by the rules(so you don't get fired) and use your cell phone as a text messenger. I assume everyone has one now and then some.

Is the potential of being caught with something you shouldn't have on your pc worth losing your job? Why did you get fired honey? "Oh, I did something stupid".

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Is there some reason you can't approach your boss or the IT department and ask permission to specifically run the IM for the reason you've stated and ask to have IT install the service? Most of the networks I've worked on have locked down the machine and the desktop to one degree or another because we don't want unauthorized, untested software that can expose us to risks or interfere with carefully-tuned network programs running on our system. Also so they don't download trojans, bandwidth-wasting video streams and a whole host of other Things We Don't Want. But in particular cases where someone could justify it, we have no problem installing user-specific software (after testing it and - in our case - getting approval our headquarters.)

Certainly beats hacking the system to make yourself an admin on the machine, which automatically gives every dicey e-mail and every possibly-hacked website you visit admin authority to install programs without your knowledge and do all sorts of other nasty things.

And, as Shane pointed out, it beats getting fired. On my network we run a program called "Pest Patrol" that scans for adware and spyware. PCs that show repeated infections are flagged and we have a chat with the user. Two who have admin rights because of the nature of their jobs were recently written up for having all sorts of games downloaded to their systems or even installed off of CD. If this happens again, they'll both be gone. And they didn't hack our system to get around safeguards, they just failed to follow policy.

From the IT dept. we can remotely connect to any PC and spot-check what people are doing without their knowing about it. Later this year we'll be adding another program that will monitor usage in real-time and flag visits to certain websites and other activities. Companies are increasingly doing this sort of thing for a host of reasons, taking the position that the computers belong to the employer, are provided strictly as tools for employees to do their jobs and that there is and should be no expectation of privacy on them. (Since I work for a state agency in a state with a very strong sunshine laws, even most of the e-mails that pass through my account are potentially public record, and the same would apply to IMs if we allowed such things (which we don't.)

Regards,

Joe

 

[Joseph S]

That's why you go to school and get a nice cushy job where they need you so bad that you can play games while you work.


They would save a lot more money letting folks go to ESPN or listen to online stations/music and the like than paying for all this nonsense. Heck run Mac OS X Server Unlimited Client Version for $999 and you won't have any "pests" to look out for either.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I agree. I can understand certain safeguards to protect the integrity of the network, but if the employees are getting all of their work done and are doing certain things (checking home email, visiting ESPN, etc.) that don't compromise the network on the side, why does the company need to put so much effort into stomping them out? I wonder if the same rules apply to the executives...

 

[SethH]

One problem is that most people don't know what can harm the network and what cannot. Things like checking home email (or webmails like hotmail) could easily lead to viruses. I would guess that as far as downloadable games go, more probably come with spyware than don't.

Also, if you've got two people getting all of their work done and spending half of their time doing "personal" stuff online then you really only need one of those people meaning that the company is wasting lots of money on those salaries.

Also, you'd be surprised at how many people actually use work computers to look at porn because they feel it's safer than getting caught at home by their spouse.

A good friend works in his local town government offices and the first week they had their computers monitored there were almost 10 people either fired or warned (depending on severity of the situation) for spending much of the day looking a porn.

 

[Joseph S]

If there's a big game or info I need from home, I'm going to get far more work done if I don't need to make calls or take breaks or entire days off. You always get better bang for your buck from happy employees.

 

[AjayM]

Sometimes no, but most of the time they do. But for every one time I've heard of "problems" with upper management there are a hundred or more "employees" with the same or bigger "problems".

 

[Christ Reynolds]

you mean, you want people to go to work...TO WORK? the horror.

i don't see anything wrong with going on espn to check a score or going to the weather channel or looking up the starting time for a movie, small breaks can be refreshing, and can help stimulate work to be done afterwards. but when the breaks themselves start to interfere with working is when it becomes a problem. but if the employer says it's forbidden, it's just how it is.

CJ

 

[Joseph S]

Nope. They were all miserable or delusional.

 

[AjayM]

There's just the small issue that since Mac has such a limited market that most of the people building business applications don't build a Mac version, so there could be even more money saved since if we can't load up an application that the employee would need, there's no need for a computer, with no computer to do work there's no need for the employee

 

[Joseph S]

Pretty much the only thing you can't do in business environment on a Mac is get a virus. Everything worth buying has a Mac compatible product/equivalent or has a java/web/vnc/remote interface by default. Of course Macs now can run Windows natively as well if you had a specific reason to use it. The only issue is thanks to Netboot and no virii there's only one techie needed per site at best.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

That's a pretty broad generalization. I think you'd be surprised how broad the spectrum there is of businesses and associated software. And even if there is a Mac equivilant, there's still the legacy issue. That old Windows 98 P.O.S. runs a closed-circuit database with records for the vast majority of residents. We don't have the budget to replace the computer itself. We certainly can't afford to pay someone to write a program to securely convert all of that data from our proprietary format to some package standard. The delay to the customer of having to re-enter their data into a new system when they came in would be completely unacceptable. We barely made it through the conversion from a paper filing system six years ago. Now imagine companies which aren't just tracking one dataset but hundreds of diverse data sets, comprised of dozens of interlocking programs. The cost, not even including the sheer man hours involved, would be astronomically more than the $999 you quote.

That aside, from the sound of things from the network admins in this thread, it sounds like virus protection is merely one element in their network domineering. While Macs don't currently have serious virus issues (though that would almost certainly change upon mass adoption), it still doesn't prevent a computer-illiterate employee from broadcasting company secrets across the web by hitting the wrong thing or sending someone the wrong information.

I still don't agree with the philosophy that workers should be so dehumanized that their internet usage is timed lest the fail to be an unflagging cog in the machinery. But I begin to see that the situation is perhaps more complex than I'd realized.