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The problem I'm having with Internet porn

post #1 of 14
3/31/07 at 4:24pm
Thread Starter 
Hey gang,
Well, it's neither that I disapprove, nor that I am an abuser. It's that a guy that my father hired recently to act as his plant manager and mechanic apparently has a problem. Short story long -- I've personally caught him watching "videos" twice in one week. My dad talked to him immediatly after the first encounter and he told him in no uncertain terms that this behavior was inappropriate and unacceptable. (He was doing it in the secretaries office too) (Ugg.) Anyway, I don't care what this guy does on his own time but he's been coming in on the weekends and racking up overtime the whole time. I just checked his IE history and there are at least 1500 sites in the past three weeks.

My questions are as follows:

What kind of self respecting porn-at-work guy doesn't know to hit the history eraser button when through, especially on someone else's machine?

It seems that I can not print the History. What's the easiest way to do this?

Is it possible to tell how much time was involved from the current configuration? Is there a record of WHEN each site was visited?

What kind of tools are available to someone in my position? I'm worried about him getting gnarly viruses and whatever. Is it even possible for them to spread accross our little 4 machine network? (Plus, he's been bugging my dad to get him a machine of his own. HA!)

Is this self destructive behavior? What's going on here? I looked at the stuff he was looking at, and it just made me kind of sad. I'm really bummed because I hate being put into these awkward situations.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Matt
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post #2 of 14
3/31/07 at 5:45pm

Re: The problem I'm having with Internet porn

I'd install netnanny.
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post #3 of 14
3/31/07 at 5:47pm

Re: The problem I'm having with Internet porn

And wash his keyboard.
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post #4 of 14
3/31/07 at 6:54pm
Thread Starter 

Re: The problem I'm having with Internet porn

"netnanny" ... I'll check it out, thanks. Are there things I can do with the current original setup? Can I do things retroactivly by installing any of this software? My dad wan't an estimate of how much time this guy f'd off.
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post #5 of 14
4/1/07 at 7:20am

Re: The problem I'm having with Internet porn

Just hope he hasn't heard of this: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...n201859S49.DTL
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post #6 of 14
4/1/07 at 7:22am

Re: The problem I'm having with Internet

I have CyberSitter installed on all 3 of my computers. Two are in the kids rooms. I like it because it blocks the "bad" sites before they are loaded. It also e-mails daily reports of web site visited.
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post #7 of 14
4/1/07 at 11:39am

Re: The problem I'm having with Internet porn

I worked with a guy who had a similar problem. We used to catch him with porn site on his computer when we'd walk into the office and he'd quickly close them and give us that innocent (you got me) look on his face, like it was the first time he had ever done it.

After being a little suspicious, our IT guy called me over to his computer and we were 'browsing' this guys internet cache in real time....for almost 2 hours, this guy was surfing porn, while he was supposed to be doing work for us.

The creepiest thing was, this guy had teen porn sites bookmarked. He recently became a father and had a bunch of folders of "baby name" bookmarks (and other various baby sites) - the REAL creepy thing was, he hid the teen porn bookmarks in his baby bookmarks folder!!!

We printed out all of this stuff and took it to our supervisor. Amongst other things that this guy was in deep s*** for, this was probably the topper in why they fired him.


Matt, I think one thing that could help is to put up a policy. Most companies don't have (or show) their policies on web surfing, so most people think they can get away with this stuff. Why not put up a list of policies and have one of them mention no porn to be allowed. Print out copies and make everyone sign, that they've read them. That way, you have every reason to say something to him if you catch him. Hopefully the signed "policy" will be enough to deter him, or at least make him worried/nervous that "eyes" are watching.
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post #8 of 14
4/1/07 at 2:44pm

Re: The problem I'm having with Internet porn

Why limit it to porn? You can waste time through The Tubes on gambling, sports, chat, games, etc. What galling to me is the guy getting overtime while wasting your bandwidth. The policy should be about wasting time and not doing their job.

However, allowing porn in the office can contribute to a "hostile work environment" because if someone else sees it, they could get genuinely offended, and if you the employer don't do something about it, the offendee might sue. I suppose that depends on what state you're in, though. IANAL.

So porn is like a two-fer. Make the policy, log his usage, and then can him if he doesn't shape up.
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post #9 of 14
4/1/07 at 5:52pm

Re: The problem I'm having with Internet porn

I would mock those who surf porn sites at work, except that I keep coming to sites like this when I'm supposed to be working, so I'm not sure I have any room to talk. D'oh! Shame on me.
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post #10 of 14
4/1/07 at 5:53pm
Thread Starter 

Re: The problem I'm having with Internet porn

It's funny, as I try to find programs to log and print his IE history; for every link that leads to what I'm looking for, there are 150 on how to foil those programs. "protect your privacy!" etc..

I have no problems with porn. I like porn. Well, I thought I liked porn, compared to this guy I may be a Puritan. But I don't expect to get overtime simultaneously.

Just to further elaborate, this guy is from a half-way house. He just got out, got an apartment and moved his wife down here. Some of the links were for those "meet local chicks for hot action" and the first time I caught him that's what he was up to. I guess I really object to being pulled (mentally) into his personal life. Plus, I don't even really work for my dad. I live in a loft that I built above the warehouse, that's why I'm always around and happen to be the one who catches him. Ugh.

Thanks for the responses guys. I am trying a couple of things. I'll see how they go. Still no luck on printing IE history though so if anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate it.
Thanks,
Matt

Oh, and I think there is a fair amount of screwing around at work to be done, I just think the OT is a little uncalled for, and , now that I think about it, he hasn't fixed the forklift or the automated fill timer on the powder line ( the two main things he was hired to do when he was hired a month ago).
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post #11 of 14
4/2/07 at 5:55am

Re: The problem I'm having with Internet porn

Why not start with basics - start using the built-in password/username functionality in the operating system and then issue usernames and passwords only to people who genuinely need it for work.

Then educate those users who need to use computers that they always hit ctrl-alt-del and select to lock their computer when they step away from it.

Also educate them that writing the password on a sticky note on the screen is not proper procedure...

If the pornfreak can't get at the computers to use them, then he won't be porn surfing at work.
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post #12 of 14
4/2/07 at 11:29am

Re: The problem I'm having with Internet porn

Matt,

This freeware program http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/ can be configured to send a screenshot directly to the printer of your choice. Hit Page Down, then hit Print Screen, lather and repeat.

SHOW the printout to the guilty party.
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post #13 of 14
4/3/07 at 7:14am

Re: The problem I'm having with Internet porn

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kimmo Jaskari
Why not start with basics - start using the built-in password/username functionality in the operating system and then issue usernames and passwords only to people who genuinely need it for work.

Then educate those users who need to use computers that they always hit ctrl-alt-del and select to lock their computer when they step away from it.

Also educate them that writing the password on a sticky note on the screen is not proper procedure...

If the pornfreak can't get at the computers to use them, then he won't be porn surfing at work.
Yeah, I am not an IT guy, but seems to me some very basic network administration is needed at your work place. I don't know the conditions there, perhaps 4 employees need access to any one PC at any given time, making passwords more of a handicap than anything... or maybe not... in which case, why aren't the PCs password protected?

If you guys want to get rid of this fellow, that should be a piece of cake. He was visiting porn sites at work. Geez. If your intent is to merely curb this behaviour, I am sure there are dozens of programs out there, perhaps even freeware, to filter navigation and restrict access to "offensive sites" - or any damn site you wish, like yahoo.com. A more drastic solution would be to axe the web altogether - do you need it at work?

I can't see any of the above being that difficult.

Quote:
It's funny, as I try to find programs to log and print his IE history; for every link that leads to what I'm looking for, there are 150 on how to foil those programs. "protect your privacy!" etc..
Is the guy computer savvy enough to use these? Unless he is some consumate hacker or something, there is nothing he could do on your PC that you can't be aware off. If he installs any such programs afterword, fire his ass!

I find the amount of hand-wriggling over an ex-convict recent employee who insists on visiting porn sites while racking up overtime frankly bizarre. I have seen law abiding long-standing employees fired for far less -- what am I missing?

--
H
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post #14 of 14
4/4/07 at 2:24am

Re: The problem I'm having with Internet porn

You could install a keylogger of some kind, these are sometimes configurable to take a screenshot at a desired intervall (like every 5 min).
This will generate a log allowing you to monitor which sites he has visited and what he has typed at those sites along with a time-stamp, as well as the screenshots. Using the time-stamps you could probably come up with a rather accurate estimate of how much time is spent at non-work related activities.

Else you could install a program for remote monitoring the computer screen, this would allow you to keep track of his internet usage "live" - unfortunately this will mean your time will be spent monitoring his activity and taking screenshots when appropriate.

Might be a good idea to formulate a policy for internet usage like MarkHastings suggested, include that computer usage may be monitored at managers discretion. If he signs there shouldn't be any major obstacles to logging his inappropriate computer usage.
Best of luck!
/M
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