4 ms·

I don’t personally believe in the concept of employer-owned / managed devices; they’re a Trojan horse into my personal space. I buy my own tools, and use them f

I don’t personally believe in the concept of employer-owned / managed devices; they’re a Trojan horse into my personal space. I buy my own tools, and use them for my livelihood subject to my own narrowly-defined security locus. As far as I am concerned, I am your paid consultant, and I will grant to you far more valuable information (via source control or shared docs) over the course of our shared engagement than you will ever grant to me. When you are no longer able or willing to pay me, all of it will disappear in a plume of smoke, like crumbs on a dirty plate.

xpe 5y ago
This is one side of it. Your side. Employers also have valid interests. You may not like that work situations tend to involve asymmetries and power imbalances. They may not be fair. You might not value their interests, but they tend to take steps to protect them. Whatever you may think about the fairness of these, there are consequences to your actions. With regards to work, laws and policies don't adjust based on what you believe. (They are based on what you do or don't do.)
- daviddever23box 5y ago
  Nothing I’ve suggested implies a compromise of valid interests; any reasonable security posture assumes that an employee-held workstation is, managed or otherwise, an attack vector whose access must necessarily be quite limited. As for asymmetries of power, that’s up to you to assess for yourself and your own well-being, as to what you’re willing to cede to someone else. Don’t be weak. And-by the same token (no VPN pun intended)-if your employment relationship is not based on some degree of trust, you’ve already lost.
  - xpe 5y ago
    Largely agreed. > Don’t be weak. I think I know what you mean. The key word to me is "assess", as in "be mindful" of the gap between your goals and reality, your options, and the likely consequences. Since this kind of aphorism ("Don’t be weak.") can be interpreted in many ways, I like to elaborate. In this context I would say: * Know your legal rights * Be proactive, protect yourself, have back-up plans * Understand the pros and cons of your options; e.g. standing up for yourself. The downsides may involve employer friction and perhaps legal cost and lost wages. The upsides may be deferred and quite uncertain. * Pick your battles. Beyond the individual dimension, raising awareness, organizing, and collective action go a long way towards promoting employee rights. These improve the "menu of options" available to individuals dealing with organizations that tend to benefit from a power imbalance. P.S. VPN = Valiant Pun Noticed
xpe 5y ago
What do you mean by "all of it will disappear"? I've never seen crumbs on a dirty plate disappear in a plume of smoke. Maybe I'm missing out?
approxim8ion 5y ago
> all of it will disappear in a plume of smoke, like crumbs on a dirty plate. Are you in the habit of nuking your plates?

xpe 5y ago

This is one side of it. Your side. Employers also have valid interests. You may not like that work situations tend to involve asymmetries and power imbalances. They may not be fair. You might not value their interests, but they tend to take steps to protect them. Whatever you may think about the fairness of these, there are consequences to your actions. With regards to work, laws and policies don't adjust based on what you believe. (They are based on what you do or don't do.)

daviddever23box 5y ago
Nothing I’ve suggested implies a compromise of valid interests; any reasonable security posture assumes that an employee-held workstation is, managed or otherwise, an attack vector whose access must necessarily be quite limited. As for asymmetries of power, that’s up to you to assess for yourself and your own well-being, as to what you’re willing to cede to someone else. Don’t be weak. And-by the same token (no VPN pun intended)-if your employment relationship is not based on some degree of trust, you’ve already lost.
- xpe 5y ago
  Largely agreed. > Don’t be weak. I think I know what you mean. The key word to me is "assess", as in "be mindful" of the gap between your goals and reality, your options, and the likely consequences. Since this kind of aphorism ("Don’t be weak.") can be interpreted in many ways, I like to elaborate. In this context I would say: * Know your legal rights * Be proactive, protect yourself, have back-up plans * Understand the pros and cons of your options; e.g. standing up for yourself. The downsides may involve employer friction and perhaps legal cost and lost wages. The upsides may be deferred and quite uncertain. * Pick your battles. Beyond the individual dimension, raising awareness, organizing, and collective action go a long way towards promoting employee rights. These improve the "menu of options" available to individuals dealing with organizations that tend to benefit from a power imbalance. P.S. VPN = Valiant Pun Noticed

xpe 5y ago

What do you mean by "all of it will disappear"? I've never seen crumbs on a dirty plate disappear in a plume of smoke. Maybe I'm missing out?

approxim8ion 5y ago

> all of it will disappear in a plume of smoke, like crumbs on a dirty plate. Are you in the habit of nuking your plates?