Stopping staff "surfing" at work?

Hi,

I run a biz and we are employing more staff currently but want to limit what sites staff can "surf" It would be ideal if certain computers have different privilages? Currently the network is linked to a adsl hub\router and doesn't support wel filtering. Ideally I want most computers only to be able to visit a pre-defined list of sites which are for work use and maybe the "ban" is lifted automatically for 30 mins at lunch? Maybe Im asking for too much.. Any ideas?

 

If your employees don't like their job they will simply find different ways to procrastinate.

There was even a German judge who recently ruled that surfing the internet for a short amount of time is just like water cooler talk or other things employees usually do.

So don't restrict their freedom unnecessarily, create a nice work environment and your employees' productivity will actually increase.

 

Sorry but "surfing" can be abused. I know when I have had access I have abused it...

Any suggestions for s\w firewalls or proxies?

 

If your intention is to stop them from surfing to pr0n or warez sites then that's different to stopping them from surfing the internet in general because they might waste their time.

I completely understand the first point but regarding the second point my opinion stands.

 

Netnanny is a software built for the same purpose you are asking (though you want much ). Google it and it surely will help you with what you want.

 

most routers can block specific site ranges, or block all but a certain list. Or at least most of the ones I've been able to get my hands on are able too.

However be advised that some of your employees may use webmail for communications, so if you do find a way to shut it off, I advise giving at least 1 day of warning so that they can spread a different method for important contacts to their family members.

Depending on the nature of your business, some employees may actually google or wiki for information/code/tips relating to their jobs, or use online dictionaries. I know I do at my current work place.

 

sygate is a good firewall and has an allow and disallow options to it as mentioned above,

disallowing hosts wont work for you really as people will just use proxy sites to visit the sites, so your best bet is to 'allow' the sites you want using it
maybe setup a bat file to remove the ban at lunch times

 

Just use network and vpns and allow only internal mails to move around, cut off access to outside internet.

 

Don't restrict this especialy since maybe they work on computer important is that they work good and happy ...

 

i wouldnt restrict this as i know if i was a staff member and the internet access was over ruled i would be pi$hed off

 

I hear what you are saying but my staff are at work to work... I dont mind them surfing the web at lunch or after work but during paid hours it should ber work only. I know how easy it is to get distracted when you have the web available all the time - I used to do it myself!!!

Sygate sounds good. Would I run this on each PC I want firewalled? Ideally I would like something on the hub\router\adsl modem...

Cheers

 

Exactly and are there at the expense of the company. It has always been a major problem for companies with an affect on productivity. I know a good few companies in Ireland that have resulted in blocking Bebo because their staff was spending too much time on the site.

Block them if the internet is not required for business use but if it is then use a filter to automatically block sites. A previous company I worked for used SafeSurf which was really good against keyword blocking. If the person trying to access the blocked site had a valid business reason they could submit a form to server admin requesting access.

If you do decide to block access I would advise setting up a number of non-business PC's for staff to use during breaks and lunch.

 

In my office, all internet priveleges has been ordered stopped, since almost all employees (including me) are busy surfing the web rather than doing our jobs

 

the company i used to work for had a liberal but firm rule. you can surf the net, as long as your share of work is done by the end of each day. if staff is productive, boss doesn't mind what they surf. one guy abused his privileges though, and got his internet access suspended.

i, on the other hand, get to surf anytime i want because my share of work requires the internet, and i'm the only other guy other than the server admin who can troubleshoot PCs when server admin is not around.

 

I'm against all forms of censorship.

 

I think this depends on what kind of work your employees are doing, but on the whole if you only have a list of allowed sites it could end up being too restrictive. When you're searching for the answer to a work question, you can never be sure in advance where you're going to find it.

Workers might be more productive in a relaxed work situation, where they have at least some idle time each day to recharge their batteries. Again, it depends a little on the nature of their work. But what other approaches have you tried? I think you might do better by focusing on productivity, and tracking more closely what each person gets done each day.

 

I know a lot of corporate environments use http://www.surfcontrol.com/ ... for local office, you might even be able to get away with Vista parental controls.

 

Get a physical firewall and set up a proxy server so all traffic is routed via the proxy server. You can monitor the traffic and release a top 10 list every week, the people will be responsible for their bandwidth and content thereof.

 

Maybe have your IT person block a range of Ip's of sights you might think are shady and grant access to all IP's to a select "few".