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Application to monitor internet activity

Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 8:42 am
by emmbec
Does anyone know of a tool (preferably free) to know what websites do users inside a network go to? My boss asked me for an application to do that, so that we know what everyone here is doing with the internet, to see if they are "Wasting" their time or using it for something "Good". One thing to notice is that we all use Windows based PCs. I think that what I need is some sort of sniffer, or maybe some application to install on all computers so they report what they are doing and where they are going on the internet.

Thanks in advanced!

Re: Application to monitor internet activity

Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:15 am
by SomeoneE1se
What does your network look like?

Re: Application to monitor internet activity

Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 2:36 am
by onion2k
Install a proxy (eg Squid) on one of the PCs and make all the other PCs go through it to connect to the internet.

One thing you should be aware of though ... this sort of thing can annoy people. A lot. If people aren't getting their work done then tackle them on that issue. Blocking people's internet access to things like Facebook might seem like a good business idea at the time, but it could make people less productive because rather than checking the site every 20 minutes they'll be sitting around complaining to other people - and that's 2 people who aren't working rather than just one.

Plus if the people are geeks like me they'll refuse to work somewhere that blocks full internet access. Seriously, if my boss pulled something like this I'd resign on the spot, and that would be really quite bad for the company.