[MT-L] ! Monitoring internet usage
Ganesh Seshadri
This was during the early days of internet connectivity at our organization. We had a telephone link to our ISP through a DOS based PC called the gatekeeper which logged all the sites that were visited. Every morning we had a tech who would review the list, and if any of the sites were not familiar, he would navigate to them, and if it was not clearly business-related, would pass this information on to the department manager. One day he got a hit from the PC in the medical staff office where someone had visited a rather anatomically rich site. Armed with this, he dashed off to the VP of medical staff. The reaction was swift and decisive – before the day was over there were techs working an order to install a modem on that PC with a totally separate unmonitored connection to the internet.
From: meditech-...@mtusers.com [mailto:meditech-...@mtusers.com] On Behalf Of Brandon Gauntt
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 10:00 AM
To: 'Mitch Lawrence'; 'Robert White'; 'Information Systems' 'Shinn Pam'; medit...@mtusers.com
Subject: Re: [MT-L] YouTube
I agree with Mitch. We use Wavecrest Computing’s Cyblock to categorize and block certain websites and you can add more to custom categories as well. We do not monitor anything and only run an audit/report on users when requested from a manager and they get to deal with it how they deem necessary.
Brandon Gauntt
Director - Information Services
Memorial Hospital
903-439-4054 Office
“A camel looks like a horse that was planned by a committee.”
From: meditech-...@mtusers.com [mailto:meditech-...@mtusers.com] On Behalf Of Mitch Lawrence
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 8:21 AM
To: 'Robert White'; 'Information Systems' 'Shinn Pam'; medit...@mtusers.com
Subject: Re: [MT-L] YouTube
Not really. Firewall products now adays have a plethora of reporting tools available. Print the reports, send them to the department managers. Let them (if they suspect they have slackers) check the browsing habits of their employees. Minimal work.
Yes, you would have to use that evil word “profiling” to minimize your work, but I look at it as “if you generally behave badly, you are more likely to misbehave”.
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From: Robert White [mailto:Whi...@nehealth.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2012 8:14 AM
To: Information Systems' 'Shinn Pam; Mitch Lawrence; medit...@mtusers.com
Subject: Re: [MT-L] YouTube
I suspect, though not actively involved, that monitoring is virtually impossible based on sheer volume. Even if you could monitor how do you discern a legitimate utilization (i.e. looking up a drug for a clinical reason) versus looking up a drug my mom is utilizing? Then, the number of hits must be astounding. It would be like monitoring a clerical worker and their adding machine - 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 - all day long - incessant lists of numbers. You'd need a cadre of dedicated analysts just to monitor a handle of employees, which of course would be an impossible allocation of labor. In a sense the internet transcends capabilities - for better or worse.
>>> "Mitch Lawrence" <mlawre...@gmail.com> 5/23/2012 9:16 AM >>>
The only thing restricted are gaming and porn.
We look at it as a productivity issue. If you are surfing the web when you should be working, maybe you should have more time to surf the web (ie, here’s your pink slip).
Monitor, rather than restrict. Businesses aren’t there to be your mom.
From: meditech-...@mtusers.com [mailto:meditech-...@mtusers.com] On Behalf Of Shinn Pam, Information Systems
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 7:50 AM
To: medit...@mtusers.com
Subject: [MT-L] YouTube
Our Administration would like to know how your institution handles YouTube access. Do you grant it at all? Restrict it by user or position? With so many vendors offering new equipment training on that site, there are many requests for access, yet many concerns, also.
Thank you in advance,
Pam Shinn,
Applications Analyst
Deborah Heart & Lung Center
Browns Mills, NJ 08015
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Gevaert,Gary
We use the Barracuda webfilter appliance from www.barracudanetworks.com to both monitor and manage our internet connection; we block certain sites automatically (ex. Porn and such) through categories that the company maintains and updates daily.
We allow managers to submit requests to open up sites if they are blocked, we have found that some sites, for example, under the category of nudity are medical.
While we have extensive reporting capability, including to the user level, we do not provide those reports to anyone unless requested by Law or through an incident report through our Risk department which then has to be approved by legal and HR. This system was put in place a number of years ago due to issues around the monitoring of staff. (don’t want to go into too much detail).
Gary Gevaert PMP | Project Analyst, ICT | Niagara Health System
DataCentre Building, Shaver Site, 541 Glenridge Ave, St. Catharines, ON L2T 4C2
(905) 378-4647 x44806 | gary.g...@niagarahealth.on.ca
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