[SOLVED] Can Company I Work For Access All My Home PC's

[adamsandr]

Hi all,

I hope i'm posting in the correct area.

I am due to start working from home permanently. The company are installing their own PC for me, and will also be installing a network switch, hardwired Ethernet cable & a VOIP box.

My question is how much access does the company have to my network? I know that the 3rd party IT support company can access my work PC for updates etc, but can they access any other personal family pc's/laptops etc?

Not that they would, but my main worry is external access to my families individual online personal banking etc etc. Is there anything I need to do to or install to ensure total privacy on all family machines.

I am less than clued up on networking issues, and would greatly appreciate any help/advice you can offer in layman's terms.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[USAFRet]

Unlikely.
They appear to be on a whole different LAN or subnet.

Once all this is installed, can the work PC "see" any other house systems, and vice versa.

 

[adamsandr]

Thanks for your quick reply USAFRet.
The install will be completed next week, so i'll check then.
I presume then, that if the work PC can see family PC's and vice versa, they I will have a privacy issue?
Cheers

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for your quick reply USAFRet.
The install will be completed next week, so i'll check then.
I presume then, that if the work PC can see family PC's and vice versa, they I will have a privacy issue?
Cheers

It all depends on how everything is connected, and what sharing options you may or may not have on the systems.

 

[bill001g]

It is likely...well if they are smart...they will isolate your work pc from the lan. They do not want virus/malware from any device on your network getting into the work network. They have much more to lose than you do.

The common way to do this is to use a router with a VPN installed. VoIP is very hard to make work though consumer routers so it is easier to connect to company VoIP systems via vpn. As soon as you have a vpn everything is isolated.

In general traffic passing from any of your machines if fully encrypted as soon as it leaves the lan port. You could install your own packet capture device in place of your router and even you would not be able to see what the machines were actually doing.

Make sure you are always using HTTPS...most sites do not run any other way now days.

If you are really worried about it you can put a firewall run in your devices to prevent any connections from the IP being used by the work machine. Still it is not like people in the company are going to risk getting sued by employees for even simple invasion of privacy things much less attempted theft.

 

[adamsandr]

It all depends on how everything is connected, and what sharing options you may or may not have on the systems.

Ok, thanks for that. I'll check next week

 

[adamsandr]

It is likely...well if they are smart...they will isolate your work pc from the lan. They do not want virus/malware from any device on your network getting into the work network. They have much more to lose than you do.

The common way to do this is to use a router with a VPN installed. VoIP is very hard to make work though consumer routers so it is easier to connect to company VoIP systems via vpn. As soon as you have a vpn everything is isolated.

In general traffic passing from any of your machines if fully encrypted as soon as it leaves the lan port. You could install your own packet capture device in place of your router and even you would not be able to see what the machines were actually doing.

Make sure you are always using HTTPS...most sites do not run any other way now days.

If you are really worried about it you can put a firewall run in your devices to prevent any connections from the IP being used by the work machine. Still it is not like people in the company are going to risk getting sued by employees for even simple invasion of privacy things much less attempted theft.

Many thanks Bill.
That gives me a few things to look into upon install completion
Cheers

 

[hang-the-9]

Look at your IT staff like doctors. While we don't take actual oaths there are still company policies and general practice that respects people's privacy and security since we often have access to secure and sensitive data (say salary sheets or some CEO notes about a buy out stored on a server), or some private pictures on your computer. The way a good IT person would work is pretty much to treat the clients and co-workers like a doctor or lawyer would treat their clients. We may see things but you should feel safe nothing will come of it.

Having said that, thinking about your security is also good, trust but verify as the saying goes. Did you think about just asking them about what they are putting in and how it will work? What we do is not secret wizardry or religious ceremony knowledge, it's not bad to ask what is going on and what the results would be.

 

[adamsandr]

Look at your IT staff like doctors. While we don't take actual oaths there are still company policies and general practice that respects people's privacy and security since we often have access to secure and sensitive data (say salary sheets or some CEO notes about a buy out stored on a server), or some private pictures on your computer. The way a good IT person would work is pretty much to treat the clients and co-workers like a doctor or lawyer would treat their clients. We may see things but you should feel safe nothing will come of it.

Having said that, thinking about your security is also good, trust but verify as the saying goes. Did you think about just asking them about what they are putting in and how it will work? What we do is not secret wizardry or religious ceremony knowledge, it's not bad to ask what is going on and what the results would be.

Thanks.
Yes I will be asking, but sadly in this day and age with all of the IT fraud kicking about, it makes people more aware & security conscious.
Cheers

 

[hang-the-9]

Thanks.
Yes I will be asking, but sadly in this day and age with all of the IT fraud kicking about, it makes people more aware & security conscious.
Cheers

Those scammers are just scammers not real lT support, people from your company doing the work is a different thing.

 

[adamsandr]

Those scammers are just scammers not real lT support, people from your company doing the work is a different thing.

You haven't met the people I have to work with
Thanks for your input though.....it all helps.

Regards