I need to help!

IS IT SPYING OFI JUST GOOD MANA.GEMENT?

214 explores how one might be used in your classroom'

Packet sniffers obtain the text of unsecured email (most

email), text messages, and Internet sites visited' Ther-

also can obtain voice traffic that is processed over the

Internet. Any traffic that passes through the organiza-

tion's networks, whether from your employer-provided

device, your personal device, or your personal compute:

at home (if you're using the corporate network) can be

sniffed.

Your employer could have video surveillance cameras

audio recorders, office spies, and numerous other ways o:

watchingyou, but let's leave those aside'

As you think about the amount of data that key loggin'

files, Iog files, and packet sniffing files contain' you may fee'

secure that out of the millions of messages, your emplove:

is unlikely to find your problematic ones' Text mining r'

the application of statistical techniques on text streams fc:

locating particular words, patterns of particular words' anc

even correlating word counts and patterns with personalir

According to a 2003 surveYbvBentlevcollege' 92 percent of employers monitor employees' email' tele-

phone, and Internet use.1 That survey is 10 years old' and it

is likely that, if an1'thing, employer monitoring of employee

activitieshasincreased.lAnumberofdifferenttechniques are used:

. Key loggers. As you learned in Chapter 4, a key logger is a program that records all ofyour keystrokes' Employers

can install key loggers without a problem on any corpo-

rate computer. If you allow your employer to configure

your personal mobile device as part of its BYOD policy'

they can install a key logger on it as well'

Key loggers do just what their name implies; they

record euerything you key. User IDs, passwords' text

messages, emails, documents, and so forth' They are ag-

nostic about what they record' Ifyou checkyour personal

banking account on an employer-o'utmed computer' your

employer (and its IT personnel) have everything they need

to manage your banking account' If you write a love letter to

your spouse, the key logger will record it'

Logfiles. Computer systems are indefatigable

diarists. Your employer-provided computer or

mobile device and any employer server that

you connecttowith apersonal device keep ex-

tensive logs of your activity. Those logs show,

in part, when you start work, when you end

work, how long your computer is idle at work

and possibly, if the device has GPS, where

your device has been. Logs also show what

files you process and much aboutyour activi-

ties over the employer-managed networks'

Packet sniffers. A packet sniffer is a pro-

gram that captures network traffic' Most

operate on wireless networks, but they

are readily installed to work on wired net-

works as well. The Security Guide on page

* ^rr"r1*l

,*""an, Laura p. Hartman, and Mark Rowe, "you've Got Mail and the Boss l(nowsi' center for Business Ethics' Bentley College' 2003' p 1

202

Source: @ LtuPco Smokovski/:

',ilrj r :,, ::: results can be used to find undesirable em- irrnrL ', -"-:: : -::: as thieves, sexual predators, those engaged in lll L r: : ::_,:e. and anyotherprofilesthe employercreates

:ili: rff"Lr-:-.: employee?). So hiding in the company data lllilliLLL , l. --. :,:OteCtiOn,

,..:r r ., -! re thinking. What about the First Amend- 'rlll 1'' - ::::ects me, no? Alas, no. The FirstAmendment ilr '1,,r'- .. .--:ur free speech regarding laws Congress may

'r rr ' i.-. I ',','hile in some limited sense it does protect fed- ' ii,.L "'ri r - - 1 ees, it doesn't protect anyone else at work.

--'t the types of data that you think it is ethical for your ::rployer to gather about you: a- On employer-provided devices b. On personal devices used at work or at home on

employer-provided networks rs a manager, Iist the types of data that you would like to

, brain on your employees.

-: there are differences between your answers to ques-

:ons 1 and 2, explain and justifu the differences. i-rnder what circumstances do you think is it ethical for -.'our employer to install a key logger on your personal

mobile device? Suppose someone fiom your IT department informs you

*rat the company has evidence that one of your married

DISGUSSItrtN BUESTIclNSi

Well, you think, they can't fire me for just anlthing, can

they? Atas, again, unless you have negotiated an employ- ment contract, you are what the attorneys call an employee

at will. That means the employer can fire you for any reason whatsoever.2 The only exceptions are that you cannot be

fired because ofyour race, gender, religion, or disability. You also cannot be fired for performing a public service such as jury duty. But, if you urite an email on a computer at work that says your boss' spouse is a jerb he or she can fire you (the boss, not the spouse).

subordinates is conducting an affair with someone not his or her spouse:

a. \A/hat would you do if the affair involves two people who work at your employer?

b. \fhatwouldyou do if the affair involves someone not employed by your company?

c. Do you think obtaining such knowledge is ethical? Given what you have learned regarding electronic sur-

veillance at work, state your own personal guidelines for

computer use. Reread the definition of job security in Chapter 1. Using that definition as a foundation, state what you can do, as an employee at will, to avoid being fired for a frivolous reason.

6.

7.