Government Grants To Start Business

I realized that quite a few people just don't know how cut and dry this topic is, after overhearing a number of conversations last week from my co-workers, computer ownership was just not something I thought people would get confused over but. This is an article I never thought I would have to write, well.

Announcements were made everyday that the changes were coming and to save everything that you didn't want to lose. They upgraded everyone's computer with new versions of software via the network, and as part of that roll out. Over the last few weeks the company I work for has been going through a massive systems upgrade. Here's the scoop.

About the only thing that was the same was the physical computer itself and the files we had saved on our hard drives, in short. There were also security upgrades that allow for remote uploads of patches and system inventories of computers. In some cases the software was completely changed over to a new package that the end user had not seen before. Was massive, like I said before, this upgrade.

) . . Here's kudos to one company trying to make it easier for it's employees to do their jobs. The network was slow and the system about 5 years out of date. It was about time, (IMHO. Internet access was throttled down (and a content proxy server brought online) and a whole host of other changes implemented, desktop options were locked, unauthorized software and any related files were deleted, passwords were changed, access levels were changed.

I was floored! "Who said they could upgrade my computer" or "I didn't give them permission to access my computer" were common, comments like. The wailing and gnashing of teeth I heard around the office would have made an IRS agent proud, boy!

) . . I'm going to clear this issue up in short order (and I apologize for the "YELLING" below, ok.

. . It's not my computer. . . It's not my computer. . . It's not my computer, take a deep breath and say the following with me. That's right. IT'S NOT YOUR COMPUTER, unless you purchased the computer you work on or you made a deal with your boss or you work for yourself!

Well it's about privacy - your privacy. Why? This will save you a ton of grief in the future. Anything you need to do to remember that the computer you do work on for your boss does NOT belong to you, do something. Write it in ink on the back of your hand or set up a daily pop up reminder. Write that phrase out on a sticky note and stick it to the monitor.

Your employer has the right to do anything they want to the computers they have bought with their own money and connected to their network.

They also have rights pertaining to the intellectual property that may be generated by or stored on your machine, and if you connect a computer you do own to their network.

Including all the places you go to on the Internet, most company networks today record and store everything. Surf at home, or if you have any "questionable" surfing habits. You may lose your data files or you may even run the risk of having your bank balance exposed to the public. Don't load any banking software on the machine and balance your checkbook at work, in other words. Don't use company assets for personal stuff, also. Don't load anything on the computer that you don't want to be made public, for starters, well. So what does this mean to you?

) so they released ALL the emails stored or archived on their system. . . The IRS Agent crack above may not be a joke to some. A GOVERNMENT agency, decided that it was too much trouble to isolate individual emails for the SEC (that's the Securities and Exchange Commission, since they owned all the email that goes through their servers, enron. A link was posted on the Internet that allowed anyone to go search through the complete email files of everyone from Enron, just recently. Want to see a good example of this?

) (I don't know about you but that guy in HR better go see the doctor quick! The hemorrhoid problems of the guy in HR or how many times someone slept with someone else during lunch breaks is now out there for the whole world to see, whether it pertained to company business, every email.

You could get fired over some email you sent to your Great Aunt Sophie about your dog's coming surgery or a picture that got downloaded to your hard drive from some web page you visited, and if you don't watch out. Employers are monitoring you at every turn. Just wait, right. I bet you are thinking that this kind of thing will never happen to you.

You bet it is. Right, scary?

The sheer number of people this would take is daunting. Most employers don't have some dude sitting in a closet somewhere pouring over every email sent through the system or looking at every file on every employee's computer. Lets take a more realistic look, now that I have gotten my point across, ok.

Rarely is someone fired straight out. The employee is contacted and warned to stop, then once a pattern is identified. Etc, they may scrub emails to look for offensive words. Like multiple hits on an adult Internet site from the same user. What they usually do is use automated tools to look for patterns of abuse, however.

You won't have to worry over some person reading about your hemorrhoids on the Internet, at the very least. You may be surprised by the increase in your productivity, who knows. Leave the personal stuff at home. It behooves you to play it straight with the computer at work, in today's world of increased scrutiny.

It's something to think about.