Instant Messanger..Admin saving all messages

[whalerkyle]

Hello,
Any techies out there know this answer? Rumor has it, our system admin is saving our Microsoft Instant Messages that we use internally for business and personal use.

How can this be done? Should I call him on it?

Thanks for your input on this, I can't seem to find an answer with google.

Kyle

 

[JasonH20]

I can't answer for PM's specifically, but I know I can more or less access any email anyone has sent or received within our company if needed. This ability diminishes with time as the old "deleted" data gets corrupted, but if needed, I could probably pull up a fairly inclusive list of every email to and from an employee over the past week or two.

So to answer your question, hope for the best (that your admin is nice and not poking into your business), but plan for the worst (never post anything you wouldn't wanted plastered across the internet).

Hope that helps,
Jason

 

[Soggy]

There are several packet sniffers that can pull out and classify different types of packets. I've used one called Ethereal, where you can read stuff as it's flying by. It relies on a unix program called tcpdump, which just dumps all the TCP traffic out to a log. It would be simple enough to write something standalone that worked with tcpdump (or equivalent) to pull out packets and log them permanently.

So, to answer your question...Yes, it is possible, depending on the topology and infrastructure of your network.

 

[whalerkyle]

.....starts to shake......

 

[rpayne]

.....starts to shake......

Whalerkyle

Yes you can do just that. I know of a couple of packages on the market today that will log how many IM's you do and will also keep a log of every message that is sent back and forth. It also allows admins to block IM from either an individual or company wide. So as the old saying goes don't say or type anything on the computer at work that you don't want known at least to the admins.

 

[randyjoy]

We use MS chat on our exchange servers, and yes, I can "archive" all the messages and emails. I can also archive all the websites my fellow employees visit.

As I work for a governmental organization, all of these messages would be available under the open records act to anyone who wanted to see them - newspapers, concerned citizens, etc.

So...I do not turn the save function on and our server keeps no record.

 

[SueMermaid]

Our admin has access ot everything we do. They can see webpages visited, (and this posting!) and all of our email. We do not have IM capability as that poses a security threat, but those are apparently easiest of all to keep track of.

What they said: Don't assume any of yoru email, IM's or web surfing is private. It isn't.

 

[ShakaZulu]

I think it's BS that companies are allowed to do that.........That is just another reason why I should work from home.