My boss asked me to find a monitoring software, help needed.

[kingJ]

Hi fellow MASM members, I need your help.
My boss is going to have a business trip, and he wants to know everything happened in the company during his absence. In addition, he thought the employees spend too much time on their private things, and thus they waste the company's resource. So he asked me to find some monitoring software( something similar to keylogger) to monitor the employees' activity online. I guess what he wanted is an employee monitor, but I'm not familiar with this kind of software. Can someone recommend some employee monitor to me? I will be graceful if someone could guide me and also suggest what are the possible things to keep in mind while purchasing software like this.
Thanks in advance,
Cheers

[donkey]

Your boss sounds like an a**hole, however you'll probably have to find one yourself:

http://monitoring-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Note that any discussion of keyloggers will be shut down fast enough to make your head spin.

[kingJ]

Thanks for your quickly replay, donkey. I clicked the website you recommended, and there are many products available there. I will choose several ones, and have a free trial on my own computer first. Thanks again.

[donkey]

No problem, however you should make yourself aware of the legalities and your obligations before you install any spyware. You can be held liable for any damages incurred from stolen passwords, account numbers etc.. Also many jurisdictions require that all people who may be monitored are informed prior to any logging and sign a waiver to that effect. When you're dealing with stuff like this its best to cover your ass really really well.

[Hugh Aguilar]

Thanks for your quickly replay, donkey. I clicked the website you recommended, and there are many products available there. I will choose several ones, and have a free trial on my own computer first. Thanks again.

Why don't you do your free trial on your boss's computer rather than your own --- and don't bother telling him about it until after the test is complete!  :wink I'm sure your coworkers will be interested in reviewing the results of this important test with you --- get to know your boss, what porn sites he visits, iif he emails people photos of himself, etc.  :naughty:

[Hugh Aguilar]

No problem, however you should make yourself aware of the legalities and your obligations before you install any spyware. You can be held liable for any damages incurred from stolen passwords, account numbers etc.. Also many jurisdictions require that all people who may be monitored are informed prior to any logging and sign a waiver to that effect. When you're dealing with stuff like this its best to cover your ass really really well.

I don't think there are any legalities involved. Employers have the right to spy on their employees as much as they want to --- pretty much anything short of installing a camera over the toilet is allowed. Where I work there is a sign at the gate that includes the phrase "no expectation of privacy" --- even without this sign posted though, I would very much doubt that an employee would have a snowball's chance in Hell in regard to winning a lawsuit protesting privacy invasion. That is one of the many downsides of employment --- the only upside that I'm aware of is the paycheck.

[Farabi]

Hire, me. Im good on this stuff, as long as using WinXP. Sine I dont have any system using that OS.

[fearless]

Have your boss look at these:

http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/04/study-surfing-the-internet-at-work-boosts-productivity.ars

http://specht.com.au/michael/2009/04/03/internet-usage-at-work-makes-you-productive/

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/workplace-web-bludging-good-for-productivity-20090402-9ktm.html

If he still insists on monitoring software being installed, then you know he is someone who is rigid and inflexible to change and ideas (a bad manager), and you should consider asking yourself is it worth working with someone like that, could be time to find a new job (not always possible i know)

[dedndave]

i have worked at companies where the employees spent a lot of time goofing off - lol
it's one thing to send a joke or a funny picture to a friend, but i have seen guys surfing for porn, too
i can understand a need for doing this - and the guy is doing what his boss told him to do   :U

[fearless]

simple stuff like checking email, logging onto your bank account (not sure why you would want to on a work pc, but hey. thats ok), to check your money etc, some social networking etc, should be ok. Obviously stuff like porn etc is a no no anyhow, and most companies have policies in place in relation to the use of internet during work or at their workplace.

[donkey]

In Canada, in a strict interpretation of the law an employer can monitor any activities of an employee, however it gets foggy if the employee is accessing information that can be deemed "personal". For example there have already been rulings against companies using keyloggers since they are arbitrary in what data is collected they were judged to violate the privacy act as "too invasive". Also in Canada, you could get yourself into a lot of trouble if you don't make sure that your employees know and understand what data is collected and why as well as make every effort to protect that data since no rights of the company can limit a persons right to privacy according to recent court rulings. The employee also has the right to review any information collected and lodge a complaint if they believe it violates their right to privacy. Up here you really have to know your obligations and limitations under the privacy act before you start monitoring your employees, maybe that's why the practice isn't in very wide use, the preferred method is to just block access using a firewall and limit the ability of the employee to install software or modify permissions, no privacy issues are involved there.

[kingJ]

Hi fellow MASM members, I need your help.
My boss is going to have a business trip, and he wants to know everything happened in the company during his absence. In addition, he thought the employees spend too much time on their private things, and thus they waste the company's resource. So he asked me to find some monitoring software( something similar to keylogger) to monitor the employees' activity online. I guess what he wanted is an employee monitor, but I'm not familiar with this kind of software. Can someone recommend some employee monitor to me? I will be graceful if someone could guide me and also suggest what are the possible things to keep in mind while purchasing software like this.
Thanks in advance,
Cheers

i have worked at companies where the employees spent a lot of time goofing off - lol
it's one thing to send a joke or a funny picture to a friend, but i have seen guys surfing for porn, too
i can understand a need for doing this - and the guy is doing what his boss told him to do   :U

Hi, man. Thanks for your understanding, I appreciate it very much.

[Hugh Aguilar]

the guy is doing what his boss told him to do   :U

That is basically what it takes to stay employed and keep the paychecks rolling in --- do what the boss tells you to do. If our brave OP were to refuse to do what the boss told him to do, he would be fired. It doesn't matter if he was being asked to do something odious and immoral --- that is not an excuse that anybody is going to listen to at a job interview for another job somewhere else --- getting fired is a black mark on your employment record, and there is no way to whitewash this black mark.

Employees aren't getting paid to think --- the ideal employee is a trained monkey --- try to approach this ideal as closely as humanly possible!

[vanjast]

You're boss is a bit of a dick... maybe on a 'power trip' or he feels 'out of control' = control freak!  :wink
It's his business so he can do what he wants..within the law

Why bother with trying to pin employees 'goofing off' - can you really fire them for this ??
Porn.. maybe and theft = definitely, but it depends on your labour law over there, but it's difficult to fire somebody without explicit evidence.
Computer logs are useless if the employee 'was not at his computer', or they can prove inadequate IT security.

Why not use 'scare' tactics such as... You 'inform' the employees (via your boss) that they're being monitored...
Rumors are nice vehicles of communication - They'll be very busy for the company.. trust me  :bg

Last question:
Are you the boss of this company, coz if you were the IT guy, you should know about all this already  :wink

[zemtex]

Your boss seem to appreciate order in the office, but if the employees can't find a "free moment" here, they will seek it out somewhere else. You can't box your employees up. They need to have some ability to do crazy things at work. He reminds me of a person who controlled employees to the details, all of them left the company eventually because of that. A boss who can't think of anything else than "utter complete productiveness", I think is a bad leader. There must be some tolerance.

My present leader, we have great tolerance to each other, I beat him up and he tries to beat me up. We do all of these crazy things, we talk about porn, we talk about sex, and of course none of us cares what either of us is doing at work, as long as we don't spend too much time doing so.

At the same time a boss must be able to know when he is not supposed to be funny, there must be moments when you don't want to laugh at his jokes, he must understand the timing for that.

A good leader vs bad leader