surfing at work

i guess this is directed at IT professionals who have jobs where they have internet access. i dont have a job im a student. but anyway i read an article today:http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/interne...eut/index.html
it says:The majority of workers surveyed -- some 67 percent -- said they were allowed them to use their office Internet connections to read news. That compared with just 37 percent who were allowed access to shopping and auction sites, and a slim two percent of respondents who said they were allowed to visit gambling and porn sites.

so are you allowed to surf the web at work. i guess a lot of people have really cool bosses. some jobs i have had i was lucky to get a radio :)
i guess im looking forward to getting one of these jobs in the future.

Surfing at work?
Depends if there's an ocean in the building!
I'd rather do my surfing on a beach thankyou very much!

(More Suitable Answer Follows)

I currently go to a college in the UK where access to sites such as www.theregister.co.uk and www.netstat.org are blocked. AntiOnline wasn't last time I checked, but it probably is by now :(

I have exactly zero blocked sites on my proxy here at work.

Suffice to say though, one employee has been fired (and jailed) for selling classified information (God smiled on him because it happened before 9/11), and one employee fired for viewing child pornography.

I don't believe in restricting, but I am ever watchful...

It all depends on what the "official" company policy is and what the real deal is.
As long as you are smart about your computer usage, there should be no problems.

At my current job (if I leave the proxy enabled) I have limited access to the internet. The proxy blocks things it considers not work related (email, hacking sites, [I imagine porn too but I never tried that], etc). I work in I/T and do not have an issue with that as long as I can access work related sites (venders, help sites, etc). The company is paying for the network let them decide what their money is being used for. Even if there is no proxy that your aware of you still leaving footprints that could someday come back to you.

I would have an issue with anyone telling me that I cannot access something from my personal system/connection.

Cheers,
-D

Many jobs require "surfing" the net. My job as an NSO requires me to keep up to date on what is going on in Networking, security, my industry, and the world. Part of my time each day is reading news (especially technology news) and looking through sites like this one. You will note that not all of my posts are security related, I need a break too sometimes and don't feel like taking up smoking to get one.

Aside from these items I also research new legislation (the GLBA is hot for my industry right now) as well as possible threats that might affect my industry or my employer. Then there are the added projects. Currently checking out different UPS systems for a corporate wide replacement of our server UPS's, we just did a computer roll out and the research that went with that. This is not "surfing" IMO but often people can't tell the difference. I do know that we do not restrict access to the internet but rely on common sense and supervisors to monitor usage. Also, our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is written to strictly prohibit any usage that is illegal or could make the bank liable in any way. Porn is covered by this since it can easily lead to EEO claims as well as any illegal activity. I have to admit though someone surfing for soft porn is more likely to get away with a reprimand than someone who shares proprietary or sensitive information.

As far as I have been able to assess the abuse of surfing is inversely proportional to how busy the employee is kept. If they can get everything required of them done in half a day and the supervisor does not want to add more duties I don't think surfing is any worse that slowing down to get by, probably a lot better.

well in your case soda it is sounding like its all 'work related' which in that case you are using the internet as a tool to accomplish your job.
the article was mostly about people shopping online and reading the news. and even that %2 that claimed their bosses let them view porn online while on business hours.
they must work for larry flint. heh heh.

My work, nothing os blocked, but everything is monitored. Here in the IT Dept, we receive notification of any porn/gambling sites, other than that, all is fair game.