A Conversation for Ask h2g2

Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 1

winnoch2 - Impostair Syndromair Extraordinaire

At work we use ancient windows with a browser which, for in house software compatibility reasons, is about 6 years out of date. Consequently when I'm working nightshift and want to browse the internet, very few modern sites work properly.
So I use Linux Mint on a USB stick to run a modern browser on an adjacent Pc.
As I understand it, this in no way affects work systems as everything runs in Red and is deleted when switched off.
My question is; as my employer has a strict Internet usage policy and filters in place to prevent most music and video-streaming, can our I S?/ I T department see that I am accessing blocked sites? Obviously my internet usage won't be pegged to my user profile but presumably they could check the internet logs and see what sites have been accessed and when?


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 2

winnoch2 - Impostair Syndromair Extraordinaire

Runs in RAM not red... Autocorrect..


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 3

Baron Grim

I'm curious so I'll smiley - lurk.

If I were to make a guess, I'd say it's likely they can see what domains their servers connect with regardless of OS used to connect to them. I know at my work if I connect using my mobile or my tablet through their WiFi it still blocks certain websites.


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 4

Whisky

First off, I'd say that yes, if your firewall has logging facilities then theoretically your IT department could see what sites you're visiting.

Secondly, I'd say Fire your ruddy IT manager... If you're using Windows XP or earlier and a six year old browser then your whole system is compromised and no amount of website blacklisting is going to keep you safe! Sooner or later your network WILL end up as part of a botnet sending out millions of spam e-mails every day - and the only thing you'll know about it is that your internet connections will slow down.


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 5

Milla, h2g2 Operations

Working in pharma/medical device industry, it's not as easy as just moving to a new OS version.
Each application must be verified to work in a test environment before you accept it in the new operative environment. And with a couple of thousand employees, there might be several hundred little applications.
Some of them just work, but there are times where you need to upgrade a big and complex system in order to move to new OS, which requires full re-validation before you can move on. Which may take a year, unfortunately.
So it's complicated. And if you work in a regulated environment, I really wouldn't use OS on a stick...
smiley - towel


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 6

SiliconDioxide

I would expect the filters to be in the firewall. Unless the configuration is particularly strange then you will encounter the same restrictions irrespective of the OS you are running on the client machine.

The firewall is certainly capable of tracking you wherever you go on the Internet and, although you aren't logged in as yourself, the logs may include the MAC address of the machine you are using (and/or the allocated IP) so the identity of the machine is knowable.


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 7

winnoch2 - Impostair Syndromair Extraordinaire

Ok I'll correct my opening post. I exaggerated in that the os is not too old;its windows 7.its that we're using ie8 which prevents many websites from working alongside the fact that our is team rarely update flash player which results in many sites protesting that they won't work with such an outdated applications.
You are right in that there are a great number of applications which look as if they are based on Windows 95 architecture! They tried upgrading the browser once but it caused too many problems with our programmes.
I work for a government agency and yes our IS department appear to be so inept that no 2 machines in the network seem to agree on what sites to block. A few months ago a duty IS guy came round to fix some Internet issue on some of our machines and he disabled the filter. He never re-enabled it again properly so we know which machines we can use to access social media or radio stations smiley - winkeye
I purely use the usb workaround so i can listen to music without draining my phone battery whilst carrying out menial admin and also so i can access sites like h2g2 without crashing the browser or having to view it with text and pictures jumbled up, if indeed the site loads at all.


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 8

Baron Grim

Well, you could just plug the phone in to charge, either to the wall or to the USB port on the computer.

My office makes for a semi-efficient Faraday cage so I often plug my phone in to charge while at work as the low power reception drains the battery fairly quickly on some days.


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 9

winnoch2 - Impostair Syndromair Extraordinaire

A member of our team was pulled up a while back for excessive Internet use so i believe that they do look at our usage from time to time. But being aware of their ineptitude im guessing they just look at profiles. I don't doubt they could look at their general logs and see that blocked sites are being accessed at the time I'm on shift and from a machine i usually use smiley - erm. I just doubt that they would go to the effort. Is my assumption correct that it would be harder work to spot this sort of thing than to simply check logs against profiles?


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 10

Whisky

It's the risk you take... Depending on the size of your network and the number of people accessing the net, your details are likely to be pretty well lost in a huge list of web requests... However, all it takes is an IT guy to glance at that list one day, see a weird website listed (h2g2), get curious and track what that IP address has been accessing, and you could be out of a job.


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 11

Baron Grim

More likely they'll make some general warning first. You're probably not the only one pushing the firewall. We got a warning at work about streaming services. I seriously doubt anyone I work with was a major violator, maybe some internet radio (grey list: warning before proceeding) and the occasional YouTube vid (not blocked or grey listed). But apparently among all workers on site at JSC, contractors and civil servants, some have even been watching Netflix films on government computers. (I sometimes go to the grey listed Netflix site just to add a disc to my queue.)

Anyway, we were warned with no fingers pointed at any individuals, to not stream anything. So because of a few eejits, we can't even listen to streaming audio anymore. Well... we're not supposed to. I try to be reasonable, but now I know there are folks doing much worse so I don't sweat it too much.


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 12

paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant

I suggest that if you access audio streaming websites after hours, you do it on different computers so it will be harder to pinpoint who is doing it.

To be honest, listening to streaming music seems to me like a misdemeanor at best, but it's your hide they might tan. smiley - smiley

And, yes, the technical guy/gal sounds inept, but maybe they pay such low wages that better people won't apply?


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 13

winnoch2 - Impostair Syndromair Extraordinaire

Ok related question. Supposing i revert to streaming from my phone and only use the USB stick os to access perfectly legit sites like bbc news (just so the sites load properly). The sites themselves won't therefore stand out in any audit, but can the IT guys see that I'm using a non standard issue OS? That in my mind might be a bigger offence as technically I'm tampering with company equipment.


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 14

SiliconDioxide

See "firefox portable" on a well-known crowd-sourced knowledge site. You could run a modern firefox off a USB stick under Windows.

How your IT dept regard using grey-listed web-sites or other software really depends on the reason for the policy. Normal reasons are security, bandwidth and support issues. Security is difficult to argue with, bandwidth may only be a concern during office hours and support issues will only arise if you do something stupid.

In answer to your question about detecting OSs, the websites you visit can tell, so your IT dept can probably work it out. They may also notice that their logs show activity from an IP address, but no normal Windows networking activity.


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 15

Gnomon - time to move on

There's no doubt that your employer can track every site you visit every day.

If you can get through to h2g2 at all you should be ok as it is generally classed as an information site rather than social networking.


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 16

Pink Paisley

If your employer has half a security brain, a USB memory stick just won't work unless it is enabled specifically to work on your system.

PP.


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 17

paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant

To be honest, I'm rooting for anyone with the moxie to get around the barricades as long as the end result is harmless entertainment.


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 18

winnoch2 - Impostair Syndromair Extraordinaire

Ooh firefox portable smiley - bigeyes I'll look into that smiley - ok


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 19

winnoch2 - Impostair Syndromair Extraordinaire

"If your employer has half a security brain, a USB memory stick just won't work unless it is enabled specifically to work on your system"

Thing with bootable USB or CD operating systems though is that they are 100% safe; the hard drive could be removed and it will still work. Only the RAM is used, so any nasties go to oblivion as soon as the computer is switched off.

I'm not sure how they could actually physically prevent someone from using such a thing because it loads from the bios boot menu before any security protocols would have a chance to load.


Using a live CD/USB operating system at work

Post 20

winnoch2 - Impostair Syndromair Extraordinaire

smiley - ok PaulH. It is harmless (mostly smiley - winkeye). I'm not using it to access prawn or anything, just trying to use the PC time I take away from boring admin, more efficiently. Rather than wait aeons for broken pages to load, I can take a swift tour of news sites and maybe hootoo (which is not blocked normally anyway).

However the 'acceptable internet usage policy' may see it differently, especially as I am quite deliberately bypassing their silly filters smiley - evilgrin


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