How does the IT department at the company I work for know where I have been on the internet?

Question

How does the IT department at the company I work for know where I have been on the internet? Even if I clear the history. Is there a way I can keep them from finding out without downloading any programs?

Answer 1

Placing a "packet sniffer" at the right location on the network and you can monitor every bit of network traffic going in & out of a company's network, including website access.

I was part of a team that performed a network analysis for a company and one of the tools we used allowed us to see every website being accessed.

Websites accessed ran the gamut from HR radioactive to nice. We did not report on any of that since our job was not to monitor website accesses.

Another client I worked at (though as a application programmer) supposedly hired someone and a couple of the techies were watching web traffic and noticed the newbie was accessing XXX lesbian sites. That hiree was marched out the door the same day.

Whenever you are working and on a network you do not control, assume your surfing is being monitored.

Answer 2

When you are at work, you are normally using a router. Your PC does not talk directly to the Internet. When it send out a request, it goes to the router. The router then decides if you should be allowed to go to the requested website. It also tracks all the traffic, writing it in a log. This is done to protect the company from viruses, hackers, etc. It also is done to protect the company from lawsuits. A business can find itself help liable if an employees uses the companies equipment to commit a crime, spam, send harassing e-mail, etc. So the company has to track what its employees are doing.

So it is very simple for an employer to see everywhere you go on the Internet, how long you were there, read every e-mail you send or receive, etc. And it is legal for them to do it, because you are using their equipment and network.

Answer 3

It all depends on the software they are using. I use a product called WEBSense and it tells me EVERYthing about a users Internet activity, including sites that were not allowed, but still attempted. Clearing history only clears your local workstation, but most Internet Monitoring software already has your information logged the minute you load or access a page.

Even Internet Accelerator and most proxy servers log the activity immediately. Clearing the history and cookies has no effect on the IT Depts. ability to track where you've been.

Answer 4

they probly have a key loger! cant get around the IT department bro sorry! they have admin rights your just a user..