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Using a throwaway... When I was working at a previous company, my manager jumped on my PC and used it to send an email from my account to my colleague, while I

Using a throwaway... When I was working at a previous company, my manager jumped on my PC and used it to send an email from my account to my colleague, while I was out on my lunch break. It was a joke, which I thought was highly unprofessional. I asked my colleague, and he said that he seen the manager use my computer. I confronted the manager and she owned up to it. I've asked her to explain, and her excuse was that I should have locked my PC and I didn't take it anywhere further. However, I could see how a more serious incident could happen, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was the CEO where hubris can run rampant at those levels. Usually companies would have audit logs of who and when the account was accessed, I would start looking there.

oillio 9y ago
At a previous employer I worked at, this was pretty common. If you left your computer unlocked for any amount of time, you were pretty much guaranteed to be screwed with. Because it was so common, it wasn't a big deal. If you got an odd email from a co-worker, you assumed they must have forgotten to lock their computer. It was a security related company, and the general excuse was that the practice was intended as negative reinforcement to push everyone to have better security practices. I don't know if it was a good or bad culture to have. I can tell you that, to this day, I never leave my computer unlocked.
- justinclift 9y ago
  I've seen that kind of things at certain previous employers too. I can understand the security perspective, but strongly don't agree with the direction it then leads people → "your workmates can't be trusted". That's rarely a productive thing to add to any high performance culture mix. :(
- Aeolun 9y ago
  At the company I worked it was limited to changing the background to something dubious/stupid/interesting.
  - falsedan 9y ago
    We have a special themed mailing list which it is customary to send a humourous message and appropriately-themed animal picture to.
- Beltiras 9y ago
  It's bad culture. For productive environments you need coworkers to trust each other. Frequent office pranks do not foster that.
  - mseebach 9y ago
    Pranks are a sign of trust. The trust bit is that you only use it for pranks and not any of the myriad other things you can actually do with a logged in computer. But the pranks should be a reminder they might just as well not have been a prank, and that you should bloody well lock your computer already.
    - Beltiras 9y ago
      Can't find it at the moment but I remember Adam Savage once saying that him and Jamie Hyneman never play practical jokes on each other. It would end up with one of them duct-taping the windows on the other one's house to fill it with water. Don't prank your sysadmin. It won't end well for you.
      - spuz 9y ago
        For context, the two Mythbusters presenters have famously different personalities and are not exactly friends. This reinforces the idea that pranks are generally done between people who feel they can trust one another.
        Beltiras 9y ago
        There was trust between them. Trust does not require compatible personalities. Both of them have spoken at length about their working relationship. Part of that trust was knowing the other one would never condone or sign off on pranking. Adam was pranked once with a cattleprod and it resulted in firing the producer that was responsible (and Jamie was not in on it). Pranks are cheap laughs, slapstick humor. It does not belong in a work environment.
  - therealdrag0 9y ago
Lewton 9y ago
Every place I've worked it's customary to send a joke email if a coworker leaves his computer unlocked... Only way for people to ever learn
- elygre 9y ago
  Where I live, we always enter unlocked houses to grab some jewelry.
  - Sacho 9y ago
    This parallel does not make sense - the issue is impersonation, not theft.
    - ptaipale 9y ago
      The issue would be more like "I see my neighbour left his door open when leaving for work; I go in, leave a note on the kitchen table and shut the door". This might be OK or not depending on community, but at least it wouldn't be always entirely unreasonable.
  - Lewton 9y ago
    Your work computer is not your property
    - ebrenes 9y ago
      So, while the computer is not your property, the information as well as access to personal accounts or information might be protected. All of that is personal and depending on jurisdiction can be protected and accessing it would be a violation. I'm not entirely certain what the legal status of this in the US, but I know of other jurisdictions (Costa Rica, for example), where employers are forbidden from scanning, logging or viewing personal email accounts or even personal email on work accounts/computers. Hell, they can't even make a back-up of your computer without your permission. source: Constitutional Court Prohibits Employers from Accessing Computers Without Employee Permission: http://www.elmundo.cr/sala-iv-prohibe-accesar-computadoras-funcionarios-sin-estos-esten-presentes/ http://www.elmundo.cr/sala-iv-prohibe-accesar-computadoras-f...
kbart 9y ago
Well, you totally deserved it imho, because you really should lock you PC. If something serious would have happened (missing important data etc.) it still would be mostly your fault, because I'm sure if you read company's IT security policy (that you've probably signed) you will find a clause that demands looking your PC whenever you leave your desk. Where I work such jokes are even encouraged by IT personnel to help workers to take security seriously. Of course, nothing harmful is allowed, it's on the lines of "I'll bring cake to everyone tomorrow", "free pizza for everyone", "I owe $10 to X" etc. It's fun and, unlike most security practices, it really works as old-timers lock their PC even when going to restroom and mostly newbies still fall for this.
- Smushman 9y ago
  So unprofessional and disrespectful for both people... Forgery is a crime - and I think sending an email from someones unlocked computer would fall under that if it was pressed in court. If sysadmins have things set up that way, they can unlock a locked desktop and log in as the user; or even change the users account password and log in. Using these two methods as the example I would think no sane person would think it ok to log in and send an email as described. So why is it OK in this case, when a computer is left unlocked? A normal person should feel guilty digging in another persons stuff - always; and the person who was violated should also be indignant. Period. What if a boss or coworker had requested you to take care of something on their computer? Is the fact they gave you the access make it ok to look through their browser history while your there? If not, what exactly is and is not off limits during an 'authorized' entry event? And what is different if they left it unlocked instead? Hope you can see how this opens a huge pandoras box. Also, if people are not there to protect the team and coworkers, how can they trust each other when it is really important?? What will happen when there is an attacker from the internet forging things? How will you even know who is telling the truth then? A professional will take care of the problem with a warning or a note. After so many repeat offenses, give the warnings more teeth, and/or start tracking them and provide punishments. Alternatively lock the desktops with an inactivity timer. Just realized maybe you are trolling (or hoping you are!).
  - tomtoise 9y ago
glandium 9y ago
At a former employer, when someone left their computer unlocked, usually, someone would send a mail from the unlocked computer to a mailing list that most people were subscribed to (including the person that left their computer unlocked, or CCing them if they weren't), with a subject like "I went to urinate" (and the mailing list name was essentially "pee", but in the local language). That actually worked quite well as an "educative" tool.
tremon 9y ago
This is pretty common in my workplace as well. Usually what gets sent is an e-mail along the lines of "due to leaving my computer unattended today, I'm bringing cake for everyone tomorrow". I consider it a good method to keep everyone aware of computer security.

oillio 9y ago

At a previous employer I worked at, this was pretty common. If you left your computer unlocked for any amount of time, you were pretty much guaranteed to be screwed with. Because it was so common, it wasn't a big deal. If you got an odd email from a co-worker, you assumed they must have forgotten to lock their computer. It was a security related company, and the general excuse was that the practice was intended as negative reinforcement to push everyone to have better security practices. I don't know if it was a good or bad culture to have. I can tell you that, to this day, I never leave my computer unlocked.

justinclift 9y ago
I've seen that kind of things at certain previous employers too. I can understand the security perspective, but strongly don't agree with the direction it then leads people → "your workmates can't be trusted". That's rarely a productive thing to add to any high performance culture mix. :(
Aeolun 9y ago
At the company I worked it was limited to changing the background to something dubious/stupid/interesting.
- falsedan 9y ago
  We have a special themed mailing list which it is customary to send a humourous message and appropriately-themed animal picture to.
Beltiras 9y ago
It's bad culture. For productive environments you need coworkers to trust each other. Frequent office pranks do not foster that.
- mseebach 9y ago
  Pranks are a sign of trust. The trust bit is that you only use it for pranks and not any of the myriad other things you can actually do with a logged in computer. But the pranks should be a reminder they might just as well not have been a prank, and that you should bloody well lock your computer already.
  - Beltiras 9y ago
    Can't find it at the moment but I remember Adam Savage once saying that him and Jamie Hyneman never play practical jokes on each other. It would end up with one of them duct-taping the windows on the other one's house to fill it with water. Don't prank your sysadmin. It won't end well for you.
    - spuz 9y ago
      For context, the two Mythbusters presenters have famously different personalities and are not exactly friends. This reinforces the idea that pranks are generally done between people who feel they can trust one another.
      - Beltiras 9y ago
        There was trust between them. Trust does not require compatible personalities. Both of them have spoken at length about their working relationship. Part of that trust was knowing the other one would never condone or sign off on pranking. Adam was pranked once with a cattleprod and it resulted in firing the producer that was responsible (and Jamie was not in on it). Pranks are cheap laughs, slapstick humor. It does not belong in a work environment.
- therealdrag0 9y ago

Lewton 9y ago

Every place I've worked it's customary to send a joke email if a coworker leaves his computer unlocked... Only way for people to ever learn

elygre 9y ago
Where I live, we always enter unlocked houses to grab some jewelry.
- Sacho 9y ago
  This parallel does not make sense - the issue is impersonation, not theft.
  - ptaipale 9y ago
    The issue would be more like "I see my neighbour left his door open when leaving for work; I go in, leave a note on the kitchen table and shut the door". This might be OK or not depending on community, but at least it wouldn't be always entirely unreasonable.
- Lewton 9y ago
  Your work computer is not your property
  - ebrenes 9y ago
    So, while the computer is not your property, the information as well as access to personal accounts or information might be protected. All of that is personal and depending on jurisdiction can be protected and accessing it would be a violation. I'm not entirely certain what the legal status of this in the US, but I know of other jurisdictions (Costa Rica, for example), where employers are forbidden from scanning, logging or viewing personal email accounts or even personal email on work accounts/computers. Hell, they can't even make a back-up of your computer without your permission. source: Constitutional Court Prohibits Employers from Accessing Computers Without Employee Permission: http://www.elmundo.cr/sala-iv-prohibe-accesar-computadoras-funcionarios-sin-estos-esten-presentes/ http://www.elmundo.cr/sala-iv-prohibe-accesar-computadoras-f...

kbart 9y ago

Well, you totally deserved it imho, because you really should lock you PC. If something serious would have happened (missing important data etc.) it still would be mostly your fault, because I'm sure if you read company's IT security policy (that you've probably signed) you will find a clause that demands looking your PC whenever you leave your desk. Where I work such jokes are even encouraged by IT personnel to help workers to take security seriously. Of course, nothing harmful is allowed, it's on the lines of "I'll bring cake to everyone tomorrow", "free pizza for everyone", "I owe $10 to X" etc. It's fun and, unlike most security practices, it really works as old-timers lock their PC even when going to restroom and mostly newbies still fall for this.

Smushman 9y ago
So unprofessional and disrespectful for both people... Forgery is a crime - and I think sending an email from someones unlocked computer would fall under that if it was pressed in court. If sysadmins have things set up that way, they can unlock a locked desktop and log in as the user; or even change the users account password and log in. Using these two methods as the example I would think no sane person would think it ok to log in and send an email as described. So why is it OK in this case, when a computer is left unlocked? A normal person should feel guilty digging in another persons stuff - always; and the person who was violated should also be indignant. Period. What if a boss or coworker had requested you to take care of something on their computer? Is the fact they gave you the access make it ok to look through their browser history while your there? If not, what exactly is and is not off limits during an 'authorized' entry event? And what is different if they left it unlocked instead? Hope you can see how this opens a huge pandoras box. Also, if people are not there to protect the team and coworkers, how can they trust each other when it is really important?? What will happen when there is an attacker from the internet forging things? How will you even know who is telling the truth then? A professional will take care of the problem with a warning or a note. After so many repeat offenses, give the warnings more teeth, and/or start tracking them and provide punishments. Alternatively lock the desktops with an inactivity timer. Just realized maybe you are trolling (or hoping you are!).
- tomtoise 9y ago

glandium 9y ago

At a former employer, when someone left their computer unlocked, usually, someone would send a mail from the unlocked computer to a mailing list that most people were subscribed to (including the person that left their computer unlocked, or CCing them if they weren't), with a subject like "I went to urinate" (and the mailing list name was essentially "pee", but in the local language). That actually worked quite well as an "educative" tool.

tremon 9y ago

This is pretty common in my workplace as well. Usually what gets sent is an e-mail along the lines of "due to leaving my computer unattended today, I'm bringing cake for everyone tomorrow". I consider it a good method to keep everyone aware of computer security.