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Ask HN: What should people not do with their work computer?

12 points by Fiveplus ↗ HN
A friend of mine works in IT and while repairing a company issued laptop found an entire folder of porn images.(conveniently hidden) Got me wondering if thats really an exception or do things like these really happen out there?

21 comments

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alrs
The best thing you can do with your work computer is leave it at work.
muzani
I used to do this, but security isn't really good enough, and it's not a great idea to tempt break ins.
cmdshiftf4
>I used to do this, but security isn't really good enough, and it's not a great idea to tempt break ins.

The company is responsible for the security of their hardware and anything else provided to employees to use in the course of their work and should not be off-loading this onto their employees, implicitly or explicitly.

If your house got burgled and the company laptop stolen, would you feel responsible for replacing it (or having your insurance do so) for having taken it from the premises under the guise that their security was insufficient?

muzani
It's a gray area IMO, similar to, say, a bus driver whose bus is stolen. The employee has to maintain some reasonable security approaches and the company should as well.

If the employee takes good care, then the company should replace it if there's a loss.

My company has CCTVs, guards, digital and analog door locks, but a MBP is still more expensive than a gold ingot, and my house is still a little more secure.

jstewartmobile
Had a guy mining Monero on his. Didn't find out until he left.

Tacky, considering the kinds of salary this field draws.

muzani
I don't really see what's wrong with this unless it wears out the hardware.
mc3
Plenty wrong with it. Additional power consumption. Slow down performance for actual work.
muzani
I mean, I'm assuming this is a laptop and done outside the office when the device is idle.
8draco8
It's basically stealing electricity.
rubbingalcohol
Don't use a work computer for any personal or side projects. Otherwise the employer may be able to claim copyright ownership over the work.
verganileonardo
Besides committing crimes (pirating content, fraud, etc) and doing questionable things (such as accessing porn), I would refrain from creating anything using my work computer (such as a web app, mobile app, blog). It is very common for companies to add clauses that says that anything you produce using their equipment is their IP.
unlinked_dll
Check your local laws too. In CA it doesn’t matter if they have a clause, they can claim ownership of your IP if you use company time or resources (including a company machine).

That said it’s a reasonable policy and easy to make a clean break. Some jurisdictions will let companies claim anything you developed during your term of employment.

[dead] quantumfoam
Don’t take it anywhere you’re enjoying yourself.
magduf
I've heard lots of stories about work computers full of porn, even in the government.

It's definitely a very bad idea, but I don't think it's that uncommon. Usually these people eventually get in trouble for it, but it might take a while (esp. in the government).

jascii
Having done IT, I'd say it's fairly common. If the company does not have strict rules about personal use of systems, I generally ignored it ("Oh sorry, wrong folder" if the user was looking over my shoulder).

In my current company we specifically ask users not to store pornographic images on their work systems so we can all be spared the embarrassment, so far that seems to work well.

Personally I try not to use work systems for anything non-work related. Why risk it? hardware is cheap.

boring_twenties
I like porn as much as anybody, or so I thought. Never in a million years would it occur to me to access or store it on a work computer. Just why?
muzani
I go as far as avoiding personal email, Facebook, WhatsApp, assuming that the device can be taken back any time. But this is difficult as an app developer, where logins often use personal accounts.
theriddlr
Using company-linked profiles to express your personal opinion. Keep your company name out of your personal Twitter profile, for example.