Vrftsjtryk

So sometimes I check things like my personal emails and do financial transactions like pay bills on my work computer. I came across an article recently that it said your work monitors every little thing you do on the computer so it’s best not to do personal things on there but I would think that it’s safe as long as you safely log out of your accounts and clear history?

And even if your employer can see yor activity on the computer, I would assume they have no way of seeing your online passwords and accounts? Can they?

What are your thoughts ?

Is it ok to do such things on work ocmputer like pay bills and so on?
And is there’s and risk involved ?

Thanks

It's safest to assume your employer can see everything. Now if the sites you visit are all property secured they shouldn't be able to eavesdrop passwords, that data could still be in your browser. This site isn't the place for a technical analysis; instead let's focus on the human element. Have you ever forgotten to clear a session? Have you ever let your browser remember an "unimportant" password? Even the most careful humans goof sometimes.

All that said, your IT department probably doesn't care. You probably face a bigger risk from other users of your computer -- you're probably not perfect at locking when you step away, right? Or you might get a new machine and hand the old one off to an intern without reimaging.

The chance of having your private data compromised is very small in most workplaces, but it is not zero. If checking your bank balance from work is that important, you might decide it's fine. On the other hand, you could wait until you get home, or use your phone.

Finally, you should assume that your non-private browsing activity is all logged -- URLs, timestamps, and maybe other stuff. IT departments do look at this information sometimes -- usually in the aggregate, but if they see something interesting they might drill down.

I'm not an expert on cyber security, but I would think a company could, in principle, track anything that is being done on a computer that they own.

On my corporate laptop, I have to go through an internet proxy, so for sure they have a record of every website I have navigated to. If they wanted to, I'm sure they could monitor anything I type into a text field on a web page on that machine (including usernames/passwords). So, there could potentially be a risk.

But, having said that, I would think most companies have better things to be doing and would not want the level of risk associated with pilfering cash from their employees' bank accounts or selling their personal data. A particularly unscrupulous company could do it, in theory, but the chances are probably quite low.

Edit:

Chances are probably higher that a rogue individual working in IT might do something nefarious, so there is a level of risk. I admit that I check bank accounts on my machine though, so I'm not too bothered about it.

A)

Is it OK to do?
Yes, generally.

B)

Is it advisable to do?
No, if avoidable don't do it.

C)

Are there risks?
Yes.

A)

You can use your work computer and internet access if there are no policies or contract paragraphs prohibiting it.

C)

Legally employers are allowed to monitor their computers and network/internet access.

This includes keyloggers, screencapture and other soft- or hardware mechanisms.

The risk is that you don't know who exactly has access to those logs and with them your private information.

They could be stolen or sold by a disgruntled or criminal employee or used against you in some form.

B)

Most of the time there won't be an issue.

However, it is generally prudent to avoid using third party equipment or internet access for private, sensitive activities.