[69vert]

Hello all,

I have a question regarding Win XP. Is there a way to either disable Internet explorer or disable the clear history function in internet explorer? We seem to have a couple of employees that surf the net and we have heard from another employee that they have had up some questionable sites(porn). We have a policy that states internet use is for company business only (we are not in the porn biz), so we need to either disable IE or be able to track the history. We seem to have one or two people that seem to clear their history each day.

Thanks
Bob

[DjD]

Hey Bob... Your question has killed site traffic today!! I don't think you will get many answers as i'm sure a lot of guys are accessing from work.

IE is part of windows, I wouldn't recomend trying to remove it... What you can do is setup your corp routers firewall to block some of the PCs from accessing the internet. It's real easy with a Dlink or Linksys router, you just need to know IP addresses.

[dcordle]

The better solution would be to set up a proxy server and have all computers access the internet through it. A proxy server can block/limit certain web sites. It will also log what sites are being accessed and from what IP addresses.

A good open source one is "Squid Web Proxy Cache". http://www.squid-cache.org/

It comes with most Linux distributions.

[69vert]

Just trying to avoid a lawsuit. One woman walked by and caught a glimpse of porn. She was cool about it but I have a couple of other women that it would be a problem for. Since they clear the history, I have no proof.

Thanks again,

Bob

[camaronut79]

call and ask a local school how they do it.

[thedugan]

Sometimes the bests policy is a written policy of business websites only no sports/porn/gambling/forums/chat rooms/or private email on a company machine. If the policy is abused then you will be terminated. All internet use and email is monitored. Post it and have users sign a legal agreement that they understand the policy.

Setting up a proxy is the best technical answer/solution.

[DjD]

Originally Posted by camaronut79

call and ask a local school how they do it.

They don't... As a parent I have to sign a waver that my kid won't surf questionable material on school computers and I agree if they do I won't hold the school responsible... Same at public library's if they issue a card to someone under 18.

[DjD]

Originally Posted by 69vert

Just trying to avoid a lawsuit. One woman walked by and caught a glimpse of porn. She was cool about it but I have a couple of other women that it would be a problem for. Since they clear the history, I have no proof.

Thanks again,

Bob

Get started on a code of business conduct and have an annual review. Make it clear what the company doesn't allow and what is at stake. Also cover proper protocal to resolve issues that arrise. Any workplace lawsuits that come up will be a lot harder to justify the company is at fault if the complaintant didn't follow defined protocol so the company could work at a resolution. Mgnt has to be willing to inforce the rules if it's going to work though...

Hey, there is even a content advisor in IE <tools><internet options><content> that lets you block stuff...

[Ted Grevers]

You have a couple options here:

Depending on what router you have to the Internet, it may support WCCP. WCCP would allow transparent interception of the client traffic, and would foward it to a cache device. You have several options with WCCP, and explicit proxy (as noted above). If you enable a proxy, you can block all out-bound web traffic at the router, and only allow the proxy device to access the internet.

Cisco offers the Wide Area Application Engine, which is an appliance that allows for web caching as well as URL filtering. There are a couple options when it comes to URL filtering..

1) You can define a list of the only sites you allow (called a white list)
2) You can define a list of the only sites you want to block (called a black list)
3) You can run a function on the WAE such as WebSense or SmartFilter which are commercial grade URL filtering products. They offer additional control such as instant messenger and peer to peer filtering, as well as streaming media controls (streaming media uses ports other than 80 for web traffic).

Depending on how many users you are looking to filter, you can tie it into your authentication scheme, so, execs are not filtered, other users are filtered.

Because you are based in California, you are subject to additional laws which do not apply to other states.

1) If the female employee decides to file a harassment suit, the company is liable.
2) If she decides to file a harassment suit, the manager of the offending employee is also liable.

I would suggest that even if you can't prove that the employee is surfing in-appropriate sites, his manager approach him to confront him on this. If she decides to persue this, she has 2 targets right now. And if other employees know that this is happening, it only helps her case.

I'd make sure that the employees know the corporate policy (did they have to sign anything?) Consider investing in a filtering product, or, at the very least, install a cache product that supports transaction logging (to prove who is accessing the sites), and also talk with the employee to make sure she is not offended, and that she understands that the company is making efforts to prevent this from happening in the future.

It seems to me that if she filed a complaint, the offending employee could be subject to dismissal.

-Ted

[Scott Taylor]

Why not just counsel the employees that are surfing inappropriate sites?

[camaronut79]

Originally Posted by DjD

They don't... As a parent I have to sign a waver that my kid won't surf questionable material on school computers and I agree if they do I won't hold the school responsible... Same at public library's if they issue a card to someone under 18.

they do here through an internet security like norton

[stevea]

Aren't there programs that will send a list of visiting sites and time on those site to one main computer. I recall my brother-in-law having something like that in their home. They would be emailed a list of where their children went on the web.

[fishin4info]

Please do not take away my surfing time on Team Camaro. It is all I have to look forward to when the alarm clock goes off in the morning. DSL is great for the company, it cuts my surfing time way down.

[WildBillyT]

You can also run a search on their Content.IE5 folder (if it still exists in XP). Cached porn can reside there even though someone has cleared their history, cookies, and temporary internet files.

[Brian Lewis]

Webwasher URL Filtering - http://www.cyberguard.com/products/w...tml?lang=de_EN

There are many other programs like SurfControl and Igear that do the same.