I am not that tech savvy.  Has anyone ever "cleaned" their work computer at the place of employment?  I've used my work computer to access my personal email accounts, and have read, and sent emails to providers.  I've never visited provider sites, or logged in on TER at work, but I have done stuff I probably shouldn't have done on the computer, like ebay and such.  I've erased all the temporary internet files, but what can be done to clean things up, and start fresh?  I don't even know the extent that our I.T. dept. can find stuff out.  If emails are erased, can they still be pulled up??

Just because the files aren't on your computer doesn't mean that the company's servers don't have the records.

Use a Blackberry or wait until you get home to do your private stuff.

through their network.  Their network probaby keeps records & I'd not make a practice of it but they probably expect folks to check email occasionally.  If it was just a single computer, there are programs that overwrite to mil-spec for top secret.  Futile if it's on their network.  If you've woken up in time, hopefully there won't be a problem.

Just stay away from anything adult...    Guys have been fired from 6 figure jobs for this.  

In addition to a smart phone, you could use one of those adaptors that connects your personal laptop to the 3G wireless adaptor.  I think ATT & Verizon offer them.
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computer overwrite programs link

In general what will get you are one of two things
1. Accessing inappropriate content such as ter. It's the company's network server where this resides so nothing you can do about that. Unless specifically directed to save actual content it only stores the web address. Because of storage and processing issues this would only be enabled if they are investigating you. I would not worry about accessing Gmail.  Half the workforce does the same.  EBay may annoy your employer because they expect you to work.
2. Inappropriate photos/movies.  If you download it then #1 cooks you anyway. Obviously don't be carrying that stuff around.

Here is the tricky part. Photos attached to Gmail.  If you open that email the photo will download possibly from an inappropriate website.  I make it a rule to never open a hobby email that has an attachment.  Also Gmail settings allow stopping display of attached images.

You do need to be careful.

There are two types of companies:
Those that are concerned about security, and those that can't afford good security.

It comes down to the hardware that's on the network. There are two ways that traffic can be detected.
1. Your company is running it's own internal mail/internet server and hosting their own DNS
2. A security appliance such as a SonicWall is monitoring network traffic.

The fact that you can even access TER or anything else in adult nature gives me an idea that you are NOT running a security appliance, or it's just not set to filter out the bad stuff. A SonicWall or similar appliance has the ability to automatically flag and email a contact if an inappropriate site was even requested, or if an email even contains any type of picture attached to it.

If you're running your own DNS server, than someone would have to manually go through the DNS logs and see who the offenders are.

The $10 question is do you have a full time IT person on staff. If the answer is yes, than you are probably running in house DNS, and probably a SonicWall. Content filtering may be turned off because in my experience, the top offenders in companies are the CEO's/upper management. If the filtering is off, the tracking will still be on.

Hope that helps

I don't know if I can access the "innapropriate" sites such as TER, or Eros, etc. because I never tried.  I figured that was way too dangerous.  However, I read and write from my own personal accounts on AOL, and GMX on the work PC.  I have communicated with providers in that sense.  I guess I figured that they cannot access my personal accounts.  Several months, has gone by since my last communication with a provider on my email at work, but I've been using Ebay for a long time,  which brings me to another question: Is there some time frame where old info gets purged out at some point?  How about their wireless server?  My company has WiFi.  I think I'll invest in a blackberry for communicating via email.  I delete the browser history, temporary internet files and cookies daily, but it sounds like they could still have stuff, if they have the right tools.

Again, it comes down to the size of the company. Without knowing, I'm guessing here but the fact that you can use AOL and look at things on eBay tells me your not quite what we would classify as "Enterprise" class. You have more freedoms than people at large corporations.

To answer your question: yes, DNS data does get purged when the log becomes full. Keep in mind, DNS data is usually just thousands of IP addresses, and rarely get looked at. Most companies concerned about employees internet conduct use security appliances (see earlier post about SonicWall).

The cannot view your AOL account, but they can only tell that you were on the site and for how long.

You can clear your history, cache and cookies, but they still know where you've been. The wifi is simply an extension of the same infrastructure of the network and is just the same as a hardwire connection to your computer.

your best bet is to get a T-mobile prepaid wireless connect card. it's the cheapest i've seen, and prepaid allows you to be anonymous as to the ownership. This way while you're in the office you are COMPLETELY off of the company network. Setting up Blackberry enterprise services is $10 a month, and the wireless card is only $30.

Do yourself a favor and download FireFox web browser (www.mozilla.com) and you can set it to wipe everything when it closes, or you can "start private browsing" which will also leave no trace while your surfing.

Thanks a lot for the great advice.  I think you're right about the level of monitoring they do.  I think someone would have said something by now regarding about the sites I've been to, even though they're not terribly bad.   It's the pictures that providers have sent me that I worry about most.  I'm takiing your advice about the Blacberry/T-Mobile and the card.  Are you suggesting that I download FireFox to my work computer??  That sounds like a huge Red Flag, that I'm up to something, if our IT guy saw that.  I'm going to completely stop using the office computer and just let time go by for an eventual purge.  If I don't, I'll just get more brave, and bolden until I really do get my ass in a sling.

How do you set Firefox to wipe everything when it closes?

This is the quickest way to get fired!  And, you may think you erased the evidence; but, 1) many of those erased files can be restored, and 2) there may be back up copies maintained by your employer.

Google Chrome can do that, too, and it's just a simple check box in the Options menu. Similar in Firefox. There is also a cool application called "Tether" that will allow you to use your personal smartphone and laptop to access the internet at work without ever going through your company's computer network. That's the way to go if you have to check sensitive personal emails or web sites at work.  (And make sure it's not a company-issued Blackberry or company-issued laptop, of course. Must be your own property.)

A lot of companies, especially financial firms, are required to keep emails and internet logs for years and make them available to regulators when requested. Mostly they are monitoring for insider trading and other securities law violations. If it isn't specifically blocked, then adult content is generally ignored / tolerated until they decide they want to fire you for some other reason. Then the porn shit is just another nail in your coffin.

I do know someone who was fired specifically for accessing adult sites on his work computer, but it was only because he did it all day long and he wouldn't stop, even after multiple warnings. Major porn addict! But I suppose even one slip up could get you fired if you work for a very strict company, so best advice has already been given:  don't do it at work.