Silently monitor someones computer

buzzby

buzzby

buzzby

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24 Oct 2002
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I work for a company and some of my job role is to deal with the internal network.

We have a user that is supected of doing very little work.

I need to know if there is some monitoring software that will aloww me to record/view his computer without his knowledge.

It also need to be installed silently.

Is this possiable.

There is no breach in his privacy as it is all company property and on company time.
 
That's not ethical, I think you should consider a more upfront way of assesing the situation and bringing about positive change for the employee and the employer.

It is clearly a breach of privacy to coverty monitor someone , employers do not own their employees, even during working hours!
 
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Larok said:
That's not ethical, I think you should consider a more upfront way of assesing the situation and bringing about positive change for the employee and the employer.
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That isn't really the geek answer i was looking for. Ethically i dont have a problem with it because if he was working hard enough there woud be no need.

The problem is that if we confront him then he will just deny it as we have no proof. He just seems to do enough work to get by.
 
I can appreciate that, but at the end of the day you would be exposing yourself to risk if you get involved with covert monitoring.

I think at least you should tell him that his activity will be monitored, that would get the same result. Unless of course that's not the objective and someone is looking for a reason to end his employment.

Would it not be better to find a way both can move forward in a productive way and use the option of consented monitoring if needed?

Good luck with it! and look after yourself your boss might be using you to do the covert monitoring ,(without his knowledge of course later), if it all blows up subsequently and at the end of the day its more satsifying to see the situation improved than not + better for business. It takes a lot of time and money to recruit and train new staff.
 
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PS would you agree it would be ethical to place a hidden camera above your workstation or a tracking/listning device in your pen? As it is the same thing.
 
His manager/team leader should be checkign his work rate. Perhaps he just doesn't have enough work to do? Does he have targets/goals to attain? Is he meeting them? Where has this concern been raised? (collegues/customer/managemnt ) Maybe he has issues. (bureavment/debts/health/)

These things need to be established.

Assume you check his screen and he does no work. Then what?
Assume you check his screen and he does work. Then what?
 
I dont think its a question of is there enough work. There is a lot of work. We do not have targets per say, but we are expected to work quickly to resolve issues.

I am not his manager and am purly looking at this from a Can it be done point of view, rather than the "Do we need to do this/is it right" issue.

Larok

Unfortunatly i would have to agree that a Video camer or microphone is acceptable in the work place. Companies have a right and sometimes a need to see/know what there resources are doing and what there money is being spent on.

Its a little big brotherish i know but if you've nothing to hide then there really isn't a problem.

If it turns out he is doing work as best he can then i would be a little suprised but at least we would know. If he is not doing work then managment can deal with it in the correct way.

It may just be a case of knowledge and training.

Like you say he may have issues that need to be addressed but he has not said anything. The problem is just not knowing.

Again i am looking at this purly from a "can it be done" perspective.
 
I agree with what has already been said. They boy may have problems, monitoring his activity isn't going to get you any where. You should just speak to him, well not even you, his Team Leader or Supervisor should ask him if he is having any problems. Is he struggeling with the work he has been given? Is it to little or to easy that he finishes it in no time and just sits around for the rest of the day...

If I found out someone was watching what I was doing on my PC at work I would not be very happy at all... I would much prefer it if someone just came up to me and asked what the hell are you doing just sitting there doing nothing?

sfx
 
buzzby said:
I dont think its a question of is there enough work. There is a lot of work. We do not have targets per say, but we are expected to work quickly to resolve issues.

I am not his manager and am purly looking at this from a Can it be done point of view, rather than the "Do we need to do this/is it right" issue.

Larok

Unfortunatly i would have to agree that a Video camer or microphone is acceptable in the work place. Companies have a right and sometimes a need to see/know what there resources are doing and what there money is being spent on.

Its a little big brotherish i know but if you've nothing to hide then there really isn't a problem.

If it turns out he is doing work as best he can then i would be a little suprised but at least we would know. If he is not doing work then managment can deal with it in the correct way.

It may just be a case of knowledge and training.

Like you say he may have issues that need to be addressed but he has not said anything. The problem is just not knowing.

Again i am looking at this purly from a "can it be done" perspective.
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Yes it can be done with remote tools. Most of them will show that someone is monitoring though as it is bad to be doing it without their knowledge.

I do not know of any tools of the top of my head that will allow you to monitor someone without their knowledge but it can be done.

Google will be your only hope as I doubt anyone here would tell you, I know I won't (nothing personal.:))

sfx
 
Ultra VNC cna be setup so you can view a workstation and if a webcam is setup the TweakUI can be setup to take shots a specific intervals, but as others has said the ethics behind all of this are a little off.
 
A lot of companies have this facility as standard, It also sometimes gives them the ability to fix computer problems remotely from another location which they have done with my workstation many times and there is no indication that they can see what I am doing even when I can see the mouse pointer moving around the screen whilst they are fixing a problem so they could be watch what I am working on at anytime and I would never know.
 
yes its possible with the appropriate software however you'd have to buy it because the freeware ones are very minimal in features such as stealth mode etc etc.

i will come up with suggestions soon, ethical or not he didnt ask for a moral lesson, he asked if it can be done and how.

g'morning
 
Keystroke logging might be an option.

There's nothing that would be truly invisible, however - any process would show up as a service or task. I'm not aware of any programmes that are hidden steganographically.

Obviously, your company's computer use policy would have informed the aforementioned worker that he might be monitored, and you have his explicit informed consent.

And your company is, of course, paying at least lip service to the information commissioner's code of practice for the use of personal data obtained by employers' monitoring.

buzzby said:
There is no breach in his privacy as it is all company property and on company time.
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Employees still have legitimate expectations and rights with regards a degree of privacy at work.
 
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Borris said:
Employees still have legitimate expectations and rights with regards a degree of privacy at work.
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Would it be the case though, that if one person is to be monitored, everyone from the top down would have to be monitored too ? Surely he would have some sort of case for some sort of discrimination if he were the only one targetted.
 
But if it is work being done for them, they should be allowed to check if its being done. Especially if the worker is being paid for it.
 
Klo said:
But if it is work being done for them, they should be allowed to check if its being done. Especially if the worker is being paid for it.
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The OP said though, that he's doing enough work to get by. Surely if he does any more work, he should be paid more ?
 
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