Employer wants to watch employee's screen

[Xander]

Figured it's a "remote" issue more than any....

Got a customer that I did some quick repairs for on-site last week but she wants me to come in next week after hours because she wants something that can let her see, discretely, what her receptionist is doing in the other room.

I'm thinking a basic VNC setup running as a service.

Any other suggestions?

 

[NeutronTech]

I think all the remote software I've used shows something on the other machine. Post back what you find.

 

[Logicbytes]

You can use ultra VNC and hide the tray icon, then have her connect the viewer in view only mode to the workstation.

 

[154Tech]

I think all the remote software I've used shows something on the other machine. Post back what you find.

I worked in a bank over a decade ago and the managers had something that allowed them to watch the screens of any of their people. No idea what is was or how exactly it worked, but the user had no idea when they were being watched so there is something out there that will do this.

 

[iisjman07]

Home made Remote Access Trojan (RAT), and set an exclusion in the antivirus

 

[ecrouch]

Radmin 3.4 Remote Control Software

Radmin 3.4 Remote Control Software will do just that and more. It has remote control and remote viewing. I use to have it installed on my kids computer when they first got om the internet to both help me keep an eye on them and to remotely fix their computer. 30 days free trail and a lifetime license for $49.

 

[pceinc]

I have used this in the past. Be sure to add it to AV/MALWARE exclusions.
http://www.softactivity.com/employee-monitoring.asp

The first time I installed it was for a Real Estate office who had an employee wasting tons of time on the internet chatting with friends. The boss's desk sat perpendicular to the employee he was having trouble with but one office away. He could see her through his door. Anytime he would get up she would quickly close the screen and act like she was working. The first time I showed him how to use it she was online chatting with a guy from one of the lending banks they used. I felt terrible for the guy. It was like he just got kicked in the groin. He gathered information through the logging such as screen shots and key logging then presented it to her a couple of weeks later. She was eventually terminated for other issues. Make sure the company has an accepted use policy signed by employees and that they know they are being monitored. If they have a server you can make it part of the login so they have to click OK to continue logging in.

 

[CPU]

VNC no tray icon (just dont move the mouse or type, lol) or if they just wanna know what they are doing without watching then they can get Actual spy to track the system and email custom reports. We have used it in the past on employees systems and for clients that needed the same.

 

[Xander]

You can use ultra VNC and hide the tray icon, then have her connect the viewer in view only mode to the workstation.

Yeah, basically what I have in mind. VNC: always a good fallback plan.

 

[scottjb78]

Use Untangle Instead!

What does this kind of thing say about the culture of that company or business? I think VNC is the best way, you might also want to consider setting up an internet log server like Untangle. It has a free version and will give the Business Owner much more information about web sites etc.. then watching the screen.

 

[norm1320]

What does this kind of thing say about the culture of that company or business?

It says that they want their employees to actually work when they are being paid.

 

[basic]

It says that they want their employees to actually work when they are being paid.

Maybe...or they are just over micro-managing. I have read studies, and know from personal experience, that people are usually more productive when they get some free time in between intense sessions of work. If they are unable to trust their employee that much they need to just get a new employee because he/she themselves are not making the best use of their own time.

 

[Styxbound]

If you want people to work without goofing off, watch them_and don't make a secret of it. If you just really want the cheap thrill of "catching" someone, adopt the behavior of a snake and "hide and then bite".

I'm very sorry to see our country come to a state where this sort of behavior is even marginally acceptable.

 

[Xander]

It says that they want their employees to actually work when they are being paid.

Precisely. All this crap nowadays about "privacy in the workplace" is ridiculous. You get privacy in the toilet and anything else is the boss' business. One downside to all these supposed 'worker's rights' is that you've got to jump through hoops to fire someone for being a slacker. My dad's generation knew they could be fired for looking at the boss wrong and they did their work well and that was it.

In this case, it was two middle-aged women; one owner and one receptionist. The receptionist was wasting a lot of time on FB and other distractions and the like.

I installed VNC, hid all traces of it on the computer (hid folder, no icons, no entry in Add/Remove) and set the boss' side up for dead-simple access. No server (don't think I ever mentioned one) or anything; just two computers on the same network. She was very happy. $75 for the 20 mins it took.

 

[basic]

Precisely. All this crap nowadays about "privacy in the workplace" is ridiculous. You get privacy in the toilet and anything else is the boss' business. One downside to all these supposed 'worker's rights' is that you've got to jump through hoops to fire someone for being a slacker. My dad's generation knew they could be fired for looking at the boss wrong and they did their work well and that was it.

In this case, it was two middle-aged women; one owner and one receptionist. The receptionist was wasting a lot of time on FB and other distractions and the like.

I installed VNC, hid all traces of it on the computer (hid folder, no icons, no entry in Add/Remove) and set the boss' side up for dead-simple access. No server (don't think I ever mentioned one) or anything; just two computers on the same network. She was very happy. $75 for the 20 mins it took.

I guess, for me, it's a question of...if you can't trust your employee to that degree why keep them? Not saying it's right for employees to dilly dally but I wouldn't want my company to be full of people I don't trust enough to do their work.

 

[Alan22]

Years ago I had a potential new client moving into a new office. Not only did he want to see what all employees were doing (by having the ability to view their screens) he also wanted to keep the actual computers in his office. On the employee desks would be a keyboard, mouse, monitor & telephone - that's it. He also wanted to record all phone calls. This was a debt collection company. I didn't accept the job because I felt kind of skeevy after talking with that guy. Bad Karma kind of thing.

 

[MobileTechie]

I guess, for me, it's a question of...if you can't trust your employee to that degree why keep them? Not saying it's right for employees to dilly dally but I wouldn't want my company to be full of people I don't trust enough to do their work.

Because you can't just fire people without evidence in most Western countries. Who says the company is full of them? You might trust 99% of staff but 1 or 2 you're not sure of.

 

[Xander]

Because you can't just fire people without evidence in most Western countries. Who says the company is full of them? You might trust 99% of staff but 1 or 2 you're not sure of.

Yup. Makes it worse for the boss when the only employee that you think is shirking is the only employee.

 

[goldmercury]

Has your client got a robust IT policy in place that states they may monitor usage?

There was a legal case a few years ago when managments remotley monitored an employee using citrix shadow function. The employee won the case as he was not told that he'd me monitored. Citrix now have the option to alert client when shadowing as standard now.

As for the setup use ultra vnc - there is an option to hide the tray icon. You can also disable inputs from the vnc viewer.

Be warned if the employee gets fired for visiting a dodgy site the employer will have to proove this - it's not just a case of "i saw it on the VNC session" they will have to have recording softweare that logs website activity.

 

[joydivision]

In the UK I doubt such a thing is even legal, or at least you have to inform the employees of such a policy.