Can My Office server record my Internet Activity at my home?

Question

I work for a Company where they have given me a laptop to use for my work.(THE LAPTOP BELONGS TO THE COMPANY). There is a server in the office which records all the incoming and outgoing e-mails and perhaps also internet activity.

Now one day i brought my laptop home, connected it to my personal internet connection at home and started surfing the internet etc I was chatting on yahoo messenger who was talking indecently and that person also sent me a sexually explicit video which i saved on my pc and immediately deleted when I opened it!!

Now the question I want to know is:

Can the server sitting at my office record my yahoo converstion. internet activity and the indecent video that was saved on my laptop when i used it at home using my seperate personal internet connection at home?

I am very nervous about the fact that my employers coming to know about my online activity.

P.S.: My internet connection at home is a very secure connection.

Answer 1

Possible, yes, but unlikely if you were using your own home connection. All the same, it would be better to use a Linux boot CD. Not only would that alleviate your worries, but it would also prevent malware from getting on your company computer. By the sound of it, you're not practicing safe computing.

Answer 2

I think you are perhaps being a little paranoid. Most companies do not keep detailed records of Internet activity (e.g. messenger conversations). If they do keep records, it will most likely only reveal the domain names of websites you have visited (e.g. yahoo.com) and in some cases the specific web page. It would be very unusual for companies to 'packet sniff' and keep detailed logs of non-HTTP traffic like messenger conversations.



So we have established that the likelihood that your company would be actively monitoring that sort of web activity is extremely low. But for the purposes of this answer, lets assume that they do intend to monitor your online messenger conversations, now the question is 'to what extent could the messenger conversation be monitored considering you were at home?'



Well the first thing we need to know is whether your company forces you to connect to the Internet through a VPN or some kind of proxy. If so, then your entire network connection could be monitored by your company, even while you're at home (in the case of a VPN/Proxy, all your web traffic is passed through your company servers before it reaches its destination).



Assuming you have a direct connection to the Internet (no VPNs etc.), then there are still possible ways that the web activity could be monitored. Specifically, your company may have installed software on your computer that monitors your web traffic remotely.



The software could come in a variety of different types:

- packet sniffer/relay (network activity is secretly sent to your company)

- keylogger (your keyboard activity is recorded and secretly sent to your company)

- screen sharer (whatever is visible on your display is remotely accessible to someone at your company without warning)



As I said though, I very much doubt your company will be actively monitoring that kind of web traffic on your computer, especially when you are not connected to the office network.



If you are concerned that your company may still find the file after deleting it... first make sure it has been emptied from the recycle bin. Then download a program called "eraser" which will securely erase files from your hard drive (or unallocated space where the video was previously stored) by re-writing data over those areas of the Hard Drive several times using random gibberish.

Answer 3

Chill out! As long as it was only connected to your own home internet when you got this video by.... ahem, accident, then you shouldn't have any real problem. There is no way they can get that info as long as it was deleted. Well, they technically COULD, but only if they had a blood vengence against you, took your laptop out of your hands with no evidence or ideas, and ripped it apart with their bare teeth.



I reccomend CCCleaner, it's great for internet security!



Also, to Karen above me, as far as I am aware, they will not know. It doesn't record data, and if he deleted it, there is nothing to sync, especially if he was using a Stranger Chat service like Omegle, because that doesnt get logged on your PC.

Answer 4

It depends on the monitoring software that is installed.

Most likely the server records the Web traffic and EMail that passes through it

rather then 'poling' individual lap-tops.

If it does than anything you saved on the laptop is open to inspection.

Answer 5

It may be secure, but when you plug that laptop in at work it will sync with the information on the server. They will know about your little indiscretion. That being said, I predict that everybody else has there little secret habits on the internet so you shouldn't stick out.

Answer 6

You're OK but if it scares you that much I would suggest you get yourself your own PC for personal use...