> We currently use the Cern httpd as a proxy server for our users
> to connect to the Internet. It is possible that our management
> will be requesting that we monitor the logs for activity that is
> not work related. These reports would/may then be used to correct
> the user's work ethics.
>
> Are other sites monitoring improper usage? How do you decide what
> is proper and what is not?
There are only two ways of doing this that I can think of:
(1) Manually check every site or page accessed
(2) Define a list of 'work-related sites' and only allow connection
to these (with a procedure in place to get new sites approved
in a simple and quick manner, otherwise this would rapidly become
completely unworkable and probably bypassed by employees).
There's no algorithmic way of defining 'work-related' and therefore
no way you can automatically enforce only work-related use of the Net.
All the above leaves aside ethical considerations; my personal opinion
is that such monitoring is unethical as well as impractical, and will
be of little or no benefit to the company.
It's far better, far more practical and far more worthwhile to judge
employees by their results, not how much they use the Net nor the time
they spend in the washroom nor how long they spend away from their desks.
IMHO pressure to measure employee 'time theft' indicates an organisation
with no clue about how to measure employee *results* -- and results are
what matter.
If employees have enough work to do, and they know that their management
will *notice* how much work they do, they won't have time to do much
unnecessary netting, and the problem will sort itself out. All this
without the resentment that intrusive monitoring causes.
If my employers started trying to monitor me to that degree, I'd probably
quit. Their loss.
-Matt
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