Getting into trouble at work?

GingerFireFly said:

If I have an IT department that is generally not nosey and doesn't bust people for things, (I'm sure I'm HR) how likely are they to stumble across me being on here or doing submissions on my work lap top? Anything I can do to minimize the chances of it being a problem?

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All the advice you've received in this thread spot-on correct. While it may feel like overkill to use a VPN tunnel and a TOR browser, it's the best advice.

Now I'll give you the crappy advice/answer I think you really want: Use Google Docs for composing your work. Do not activate "offline mode." Clear your browser history after every session. Never let your computer save passwords.

No, none of that will keep you "safe" from your IT department. (Hell, for all you know, they have a keystroke monitor on your work computer, capturing passwords as you type them!) - but at least it gives you a bit of line between them and you're fun. A very, very thin line, and maybe that's all you want.

My company doesn't care much about what else you do with your work computer. We're a small business and we're pretty liberal like that. We're an exception, too.

The most honest answer is to NOT use the company network for personal things. Not even email. End of discussion.

Get a tablet and change your personal wireless plan to unlimited data if it isn't already. Use the tablet instead of the computer. If you want to post, log onto the site, read the thread you're interested in, log off the internet, write your reply post in memo or sticky notes or whatever, log on, cut & paste the reply and log off the internet again.

The only risk is surfing the web while at work instead of working. Keep pandora or some music streaming going so, if caught on the tablet and the boss asks, you can always just say you're changing or checking your music streaming preferences.

My wife had an employee who was using his computer to checks odds on different sports teams and then place bets online. She caught him twice and gave him a reprimand. He changed his tactics by using a company phone to place bets, then started placing bets away from work but on company time. Before he could be terminated he quit. While he was still working at the company, my wife asked me how she could find out what sites he was visiting. I went to work with her one night, had her log on to his computer, then I checked his trash bin. Voila!! Everything she needed was there. Without opening any of the files so she would not lose the file history, I had her email the whole trash bin to herself. The next day she contacted security and asked them to check all his phone records for 6 months. They came up with one number that appeared quite often. Security turned all the info over to the local vice squad. They hit pay dirt as the phone number belonged to a bookie that they had been after. The moral of the story, never use your work computer for anything but work.

My latest jobs were of the "on demand" type so to speak, with unpredictable busy or quiet times.
So most employers were quite laid back about such issues, as long as the job was well done.

The only interesting story that I have to share was when my boss took me and a Middle Eastern colleague aside to chaff us: me - not to lend my password to my colleagues, and him - to stop browsing radicalised sites in his native language, cause IT got concerned.
We both thought: wtf! He might have been from the Middle East, but he was Christian.

Most work are decent professions, don't fuck around at work. They eventually find out.

Can understand when your real young and dumb but work is a place that I believe you should respect.

Use your cell phone to browse.