IT Employment·20,060 discussions

CEO surfs porn

Locked

I’m the IT manager of a mid-sized company. We have a policy about what employees are not allowed to view on the web, and we have a web filtering appliance in place to keep people from going to inappropriate web sites.

The problem is that the CEO thinks it is fun to try to “beat” the web filtering software. He spends his free time trying to go to porn sites. Sometimes he gets through, at which point he downloads images and movies and viruses.

My staff has caught him in the act of accessing porn sites, has had to deal with the viruses that he gets from surfing porn sites, etc. My boss, the CIO, has spoken to the CEO about this a couple of times, explaining to him the real dangers to the company of his behavior. He always promises to stop, but never does.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this situation?

Topic

CEO Should Be Fired

In reply to CEO surfs porn

The CEO should be fired for violating company IT policy. With the job market the way it is, it should be no problem to replace him/her with someone who can do the CEO function.

If public company — you are right, if private…good luck with that one!

In reply to CEO Should Be Fired

Morally/ethically I’m right with you on that sentiment of firing the CEO…but now let’s be honest with ourselves, based on our professional experiences….you and I both know unless the company is public the CEO is as close to untouchable as you can get.

So unfortunately in most private businesses unless for some strange reason their is a position above CEO (Chairman/Owner perhaps?) the CEO is the top dog and as such right or wrong will get away with practically anything short of breaking the law (and even sometimes then too).

Mirrors

In reply to If public company — you are right, if private…good luck with that one!

This is a raw situation at best. However, I agree with an earlier comment. If the CEO can work around your security settings, then YOU and your network staff are a bigger problem. Maybe he is testing you and looks like you are failing.

not so sure about that

In reply to Mirrors

Any CEO that is intentionally circumventing company IT security to “test” the IT department is not a CEO that should keep his job. While it’s possible (remotely) that this is really what he’s doing, he should be aware that doing so puts the entire network infrastructure of the corporation at risk. That is the next best thing to industrial sabotage.

There’s no excuse for the network admin team to fail to do their jobs, though. System maintenance needs to be maintained as scrupulously as possible, all vulnerabilities and breaches documented, and higher-ups in direct chain of command informed through the proper channels of communication within the company.

Nobody in the IT department should be trying to get the CEO fired, but nobody should be covering up for him either. The key here is to do your job to the best of your ability. You can inform the CEO of network security policy, but it’s not an IT manager’s job to handle discipline for any other non-IT personnel who break the rules. Why would the CEO be subject to IT’s attempts at maintaining discipline?

There are proper channels for such things. Pass it up the line. Keep the immediate supervisor updated. Eventually, it will get to someone whose job it is to present this information to someone over the CEO’s head (chairman, owner, et cetera). That’s all there is to it.

Eggshell Security

In reply to not so sure about that

Yes, the CEO is an asshole and is doing his best to circumvent security and should probably be fired and potentially is creating a hostile work environment and shouldn’t be using company computers for personal use.

So what?

From the point of view of the IT department, none of that matters.

The problem with most companies is that they create eggshells around their networks to protect it from the outside and complain when someone on the inside plays around with the soft innards.

There are ways to deal with this which, frankly, should have been implemented in any case.

1) Move his profile information (desktop, registry, other settings) and data to a network drive. (Keep profile info separate from data)
2) Remove all data from his local machine except the operating system and application executables
3) Give him a user account on the local machine and remove admin access to his own machine. Give him read-only access to local drives. (Except, possibly a temp directory, but make sure it is deleted after every logoff.)
4) Limit his access to his profile information to setting wallpaper and changing skins. Limit his access to data to that which he needs to do his work.
5) Install software that automatically checks network and local drives for viruses, and keep signature files up to date. (Quaranteen infected files)
6) Keep backups of all profile information and data on network drives.
7) Regularly check audit logs and report abuses
8) Implement e-mail filters that check for viruses and spam.
9) Track patches and keep all software up to date. Implement a system for automatically updating workstation software.
10) Keep firewall rules and filters up to date. You might also implement personal firewalls on each workstation, to further prevent propagation of any malware.

This will do a fairly good job of protecting users from their own folly. If your user cannot change software on his machine or mess with registry settings, it will be difficult for a virus or worm to infect it. If it does get infected, the local machine can be swapped out and previous uncontaminated profile restored. And with you in control of what’s happening inside your network, you’ll be able to respond more quickly to adverse changes.

Re:

In reply to Eggshell Security

Excellent response!

agreed

In reply to Eggshell Security

I’m not sure why you posted this sort of thing as a response to me, as though you were saying something that contradicted me. We seem to be in agreement, in principle.

Some of your practical suggestions must be evaluated based on the situation, however, and not all may be applicable in this case.

Ok but what if he IS the owner too?

In reply to not so sure about that

In our company, there is not one higher than the CEO within the company..the CEO is the founder and majority owner (the President, the ceo’s “friend” owns a stake in the company but its only like 10% to the CEO’s 90%).

I think this is the case with most small-midsize companies that are privately owned.

Because of this, it makes me laugh at many of the posts here saying just fire the CEO, or oh no someone needs to shut him down…please…I’m not saying do nothing, but you have to be EXTREMELY tactful and you must be a documentation freak (this also covers your own arse) in a situation when the CEO is also the owner!

Re:

In reply to Ok but what if he IS the owner too?

If the CEO is the owner you still have options. You can do you due dilligence in trying to get the CEO to conform. If that fails then you have the option of looking for work elsewhere. Ultimately, if you stay and the CEO’s behavior continues, by negation you accept that behavior.

LOL

In reply to Ok but what if he IS the owner too?

If it’s HIS company, and HIS money that pays you, then obviously he can do what he wants with HIS time.

You have to do your best to “protect” the network and computing resources, however, if you have “advised” him about taking risks, and you have pointed out the economic impact of those risks, and you have analyzed and informed him of the potential impact to his WHOLE COMPANY if something gets out of his computer into the network by accident due to his refusal to “play it safe”, then all you need to do is simply accept that he is a porn addict, and let him play his own game.

Lock IT Down

In reply to Mirrors

I look at is as a challenge, lock down your house and document the conversations you have had re: the CEO with your HR department (IT can sometimes be the scapegoat when something catastrophic happens) good luck!

or Lock him OUT

In reply to Lock IT Down

If your problem is that he is getting past your resources on the outside, then put him outside the network and have him VPN back inside if he wants to surf like that. If he is the owner, he is going to do what he wants. If he’s busting your nuts saying the security is lax because he can surf porn, then put him outside the network, then at least the network is secure.

Lock IT Down

In reply to Mirrors

I look at is as a challenge, lock down your house and document the conversations you have had re: the CEO with your HR department (IT can sometimes be the scapegoat when something catastrophic happens) good luck!

Public or Private – makes no difference

In reply to If public company — you are right, if private…good luck with that one!

Your CEO is going to bring down your company if he has time to surf for and download porn. Obviously he is sick and needs help but you have no control over that. You do however, have control over what you or your staff are exposed to on the job. Repeated exposure to the pornography creates a hostile work environment not only for you but your staff. Make sure you cover yourself by documenting all requests to the CEO, CIO, and HR that this activity needs to be stopped. HR should be able to help you with your concerns about workplace law. You may find yourself in litigation if anyone files charges with the EEOC and it could look like you didn’t respond to their complaints if this is not reported and documented. Is he saving this stuff on the servers and does it get backed up? Also, if the CEO decides you are raining on his parade by complaining and fires you (which happens) you have recourse for his retaliation. Wake up and read the news. Porn at work is a no no — no matter who you are. Unless it is government. These offices are exempt from EEOC, but are starting to respond to porn complaints by terminating violators. Do some research yourself on what your rights and responsibilites are on the EEOC web site and contact your HR manager.

Look at the article in the National Law Journal: http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1063212018621

Or this one on not taking action: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/01DEEC0FEF2ED85686256F5D0018920F?OpenDocument&Headline=St.+Louis+County+roads+chief+quits+

I am speaking from experience here and know how frustrating this can be. Everyone has an opinion, but cover yourself so that it doesn’t come down to a judges decision that leaves you out in the cold.

Um, yes it does make a difference…what world you live in?

In reply to Public or Private – makes no difference

Don’t get confused on what my first post was talking about. You are right ethically and morally it makes no difference if the company is public or private. And wonderful about information HR and wonderful about EEOC and all that related “legal” stuff that can happen if someone is terminated for telling the CEO he can’t surf porn.

Now enter REAL LIFE in a small business, privately owned company in anytown, USA….

Keep the paper trail, to save your own neck at least for your own self-respect if nothing else. However you inform the CEO, email, talking through your direct higher up, talking to HR…that only does good if they aren’t scared to death of the CEO to begin with. The CEO’s at some places are the dictator, and the chances are even other executives who are very close to his “rank” won’t go against the CEO.

What are you going to do report to the EEOC on your own merit? Ok, so a multimillion dollar company with tons of “yes” men on the side of the CEO (right or wrong) will be AGAINST YOU, and the EEOC will only have your word to go on.

Now if the ceo is a complete moron and exposes more than just himself to the porn he surfs then you have a much stronger case, if he only surfs porn behind a closed door in his office — alone all the time there’s next to nothing beyond you doing your due diligence in reporting, warning and documenting the incident for yourself and to your direct boss and the HR director.

The picture you paint is assuming you are working with complete professionals and persons who have the “guts” to fight against the CEO with you as the IT person. Sadly, this is NOT often the case.

You’d be very surprised (with the view you posted) how complacent most executives will be with this stuff…so many times its only something EXTREMELY major that will even get a rise out of these people. After all, they view the CEO as the reason they have the six figure income, the fancy house, the fancy cars and their vacations to Cancun twice a year.

No if you are in a situation like this its best to protect your back, notify HR your boss and at least warn the CEO in a written form and then search for another job if nothing is done to it.

Public or Private – makes no difference

In reply to If public company — you are right, if private…good luck with that one!

Your CEO is going to bring down your company if he has time to surf for and download porn. Obviously he is sick and needs help but you have no control over that. You do however, have control over what you or your staff are exposed to on the job. Repeated exposure to the pornography creates a hostile work environment not only for you but your staff. Make sure you cover yourself by documenting all requests to the CEO, CIO, and HR that this activity needs to be stopped. HR should be able to help you with your concerns about workplace law. You may find yourself in litigation if anyone files charges with the EEOC and it could look like you didn’t respond to their complaints if this is not reported and documented. Is he saving this stuff on the servers and does it get backed up? Also, if the CEO decides you are raining on his parade by complaining and fires you (which happens) you have recourse for his retaliation. Wake up and read the news. Porn at work is a no no — no matter who you are. Unless it is government. These offices are exempt from EEOC, but are starting to respond to porn complaints by terminating violators. Do some research yourself on what your rights and responsibilites are on the EEOC web site and contact your HR manager.

Look at the article in the National Law Journal: http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1063212018621

Or this one on not taking action: http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/01DEEC0FEF2ED85686256F5D0018920F?OpenDocument&Headline=St.+Louis+County+roads+chief+quits+

I am speaking from experience here and know how frustrating this can be. Everyone has an opinion, but cover yourself so that it doesn’t come down to a judges decision that leaves you out in the cold.

What’s the big deal?

In reply to If public company — you are right, if private…good luck with that one!

Really… Why do you care if he watches porn on his PC?

If he’s not doing his real job because he wastes too much time – then you have a business reason to act.
If he’s watching porn where people who don’t like it can see – then you have a legal reason to act.
If you resent him breaking the rules even though nobody who doesn’t like porn can see it, and he still does his job – then what’s the big deal?

Unless there’s a BUSINESS reason to stop him, all you have are LEGAL reasons. So, keep your paperwork & if there’s trouble then you have yourself covered. Make sure the CEO knows that you have it documented.

malware

In reply to What’s the big deal?

Every IT professional I’ve ever met knows that porn sites represent one of the biggest threats to Windows computers that exists. More trojans, spyware, and adware ends up on Windows machines due to porn sites downloading the crap to them than any other single cause.

Surfing porn sites from within the business network is a BAD IDEA.

Not likely

In reply to CEO Should Be Fired

In most cases CEO is owner/part owner or a large stock holder. getting rid of the Pres. of the USA would be easier. Possibly sit down in a meeting and discuss with him/her that maybe they should have an “off the network” Laptop for thier “issues”

Have female employees file charges

In reply to Not likely

Have female employees ‘caught him in the act’ so to speak? If so, there may be grounds for a sexual harrassment lawsuit against both the CEO and the company itself. Perhaps the CIO could use that as leverage to get him to stop.

Baaaad idea!!!

In reply to Have female employees file charges

I wouldn’t try to manufacture a sexual harrasment issue out of this. That’s bad for women.

That could backfire…

In reply to Have female employees file charges

The problem with filing a sexual harrassment lawsuit is that it not only effects the induvidual, but also the company. Depending on the size of the company, the financial ruling against them could literally ruin the company. Then everybody is out of a job.

What needs to happen is to have employees file “formal complaints” rather than lawsuits. These complaints can be used as a final warning, or even as grounds for dismissal. No department of labor would side with the person being fired if their actions are detrimental to the future of the company, or if their actions are illegal.

WOW!

In reply to Have female employees file charges

And do you kill flies with atomic weapons too?? Do you really understand the implications of what can happen to rest of the fella’s life should this “suggestion” proceed? Sure, he’s got a problem, but don’t you think you should explore other….softer options before proceeding to ruin the rest of his life?? How about finding his motivations for the behaviour, before blowing him away???
From one who knows.

Re:

In reply to WOW!

I think all the suggestions you made should be considered by the CEO. If he/she doesn’t care about the implications, why should I. This kinder gentler mentality in my opinion is so counter-productive to the ultimate intent.

Re:

In reply to Have female employees file charges

Filing a sexual harassment charge is not quite that simple. Firstly, I will assume that the CEO has a private office and if he is caught viewing pornography by a “female” he is tryinig to get caught. Secondly, the females need to at least inform the CEO that they find the material offensive. After informing the CEO that the material is offensive and it continues they must try informal resolution before filing formal sexual harassment charges. Lastly, I’m concerned that you think it has to be a female that does this. Some men find pornography just as offensive as women, and some women are into pornography. I think that your premise is a contributing factor to their being so much inter-gender tension in the work place which often leads to false accusations.

Dangerous!

In reply to Not likely

In a Government department, scandal would break out in the press here in Australia. “Waste of money and position if this CEO…” – One slip to the media and you’ll hear about it for weeks on the radio etc – so that should be enough response if the CEO thinks they can get away with stuff we employees not supposed to do at work. What about their computer setups at home which comes under the Government account?

Private Sector CEO can ride a Harley through his building and put up a Plasma TV to watch etc, if he owns the place – what can you do? In this case I would give him a dedicated service away from the main so others can’t hack, see, find anything that will trouble other people – just make sure he/she doesn’t lend the laptop who knows what to look for in time of blackmail or “give reason to bring the CEO down” to the board or whatever…

Off the network?

In reply to Not likely

How would the CEO be able to access porn on the web if the laptop isn’t part of the backbone?

Dial-up!

In reply to Off the network?

Buy the dude a modem,laptop and doorlock. Problem solved

Fire the boss?

In reply to Not likely

I work in a small company where the CEO is the owner of the company and I report directly to him. Not only does he violate the internet usage policy, but he insists on being a member of the Administrators group on the network. In addition, he hates password rules, demands remote access and generally expects to get what he wants when he wants it.

This is not an uncommon situation. I think you have to deal with it. I added him to the Admin Group and promptly took away all privileges from the group. I force him to conform to the same rules he approves for ordinary users by telling him that I can only unblock his firewall access to unauthorized web sites if I unblock everyones.

Last, but not least, I analyze web usage and report it at Managment meetings once in a while. In addition, I personally scan his computer for viruses daily and let him panic if one is found.

The way I see it, he’s the boss and if he want’s to waste company time and waste my time cleaning up after him….it’s the job. I rarely allow him to bend the rules that apply to everyone on the network and let him know what the consequences of allowing unacceptable use of corporate resources are…..wasting his time might be ok with him, but as soon as he realizes that his employees might also be wasting time – he changes his tune.

I agree

In reply to CEO Should Be Fired

I agree, the CEO SHOULD be fired. In my company, all employees must sign an acceptable use policy. By signing that, you agree to use the technology in a certain way. Violations of that policy could lead to termination. The problem is that because of position of authority, laziness or fear, these policies are not enforced as they should be.
I would make sure that the CIO has documentated when the CEO is caught and the fact that he has talked with him on more than one occasion. Then I would turn that in to the HR department.

Positive spin!

In reply to I agree

First thing is how is he getting around you’re restrictions? What software are you using?

Secondly, think of the up side. You’re CEO is surfing for porn. Think of the leverage that gives you. If I were in your shoes i would try and gather as much evidense as you can and just hold onto it. The CEO is dumb for leaving himself open like that. But hey if he is surfin porn then i doubt he’s gonna get his panties in a twist if you are checking your e-mail or IMing or any other non-work related stuff during work hours.

The fact is is that different people view this issue different. Most CEOs, regardless of their personal view, will not tolerate this type of activity because it makes them and their organization A) inefficient and B) Wide open to lawsuits. The buch stops there, so if he is okay with it, then let it go and make sure you can prove you did everything within your bounds to do the best job for the company.

If your organization has a board of directors then they are the only ones that can put a stop to it and I strongly suggest you not get in the middle.

Good luck and happy surfing,
Mike

p.s. So many execs are very stuffy and ridgid. Look at the positive side of all this.

Reality Check

In reply to I agree

I have worked in both corporate and in government.
One thing that has not been said is if the company is publicly held or private and is if in fact the CEO is also the owner. There is basicly nothing you can do but tighten up your systems and clean up after this jamoke. To try to confront this guy will just get you canned. Pick you fights wisely and get that resume updated.
Here in government where I am now the behavior would not be tolerated for long, warnings would be followed by dismissal.We have acceptable use policies which each employee must sign. Even if some misbehave we have a proxy server set up to catch them.

Go to the BOARD

In reply to I agree

I do agree that you have to document a lot this infrigment. Also we have a pop-up policy that show at logon mentioning the acceptable use policy. So by continuing the logon process, user must accept the term of use and comply with this policy.
Now because of the level of authority this person have you must be verry carefull.
Everything must be documented:
== what you do to prevent,
== time spent to protect and correct/clean his system,
== the treat (virus, corporate image, time lost/spent to surf but also to correct …)
== impact on the lan as a additional firewall that will be required < == all that have a cost. Then I will as a CIO prepare at least one member of the BOARD to require a discussion on the use and mistuse of the lan. Then the report is shows and measure will have to be taken. If you can go to there, than lets the virus contaminated the entire lan than when the BOARD will ask the "W" questions if you are well documented you will be able to justify and maybe have the problem solved for good (termination of the contract). Here you must demonstrate that everyone was well aware of the risks associated to those activities and everyone is well informed of what not to do. It is hard on the nerves but patience and documentation work the effort. Think it as a case of if this employe is unionized and the union is very strong. The BOARD is always sentitive to public image ... and it some time an economical issue (value of share, market share ...). Be cautious about the BOARD member you chose to make sure this persone have a strong personality, is very strick and if possible extremly religious and a woman if possible. Good luck. It will be nice if we have a follow-up on it later.

Reply To: CEO surfs porn

In reply to I agree

CYA, document everything, save your logs as well as his logs. Make personal copies of the log files and your e-mails for your protection. A 1GB USB thumb drive is less than $80.00. Lock him down and continue to play his “I hacked your network game” by locking up whatever he can get around. Eventually he will get locked out of something important and will complain about that. Then you can start opening up his internet access on an as required basis.

How many other relatives work there? What are your upward mobility prospects at this company? From what I’ve read, Daddy built a good business and is going to leave it to Sonny, he put Sonny in charge to learn the job, and Sonny is playing games with you and goofing off. When Daddy finally retires, Sonny is not going to be prepared to run the company properly and your in more touble. Do you really want to be promoted to CIO, a company officer, and be finacially responsible for Sonny’s actions?

Find out what Daddy’s time table is, freshen your resume and start looking for new employment three months before Daddy leaves.

Fire the CEO?

In reply to I agree

Do you live in the real world? Fire him!? EEOC?! Make up a sexual harrasment case!? What kind of advice is this? So your CEO downloads porn every now and then (I promise he doesn’t do it all day, as was stated). Just deal with it. Odds are, you have a job because he started the company, in the first place.

His behavior probably wont stop. He probably started the company because he wanted freedom to begin with. Nonetheless, as a 5 time CEO myself, my advice would be to “tactfully” embarass him publicly, by displaying which employees in your company have downloaded viruses from which sites. Once he sees his name linked to a visit to “xxx.com” he will most likely curtail it.

great advicE!

In reply to Fire the CEO?

low key and suttle

You’re there to work at the CEO’s Discretion

In reply to Fire the CEO?

This is something that I’ve done at other places I have worked at. Start posting on the Intranet a list of new viruses/spam going around that employees should be aware of for potential office impact and also that they should be aware of it for home. After a few weeks of that, add to it a list of viruses that your software has stopped and which ones made it through along with a synopsis of how it got in (i.e. surfing websites). NOTE: you still haven’t identified who was doing it or websites (let the employees speculate.) This level has normally worked for me because it makes the employees actively looking to see who’s doing it and what sites they go to.

The next step is to start listing the websites that people have gone too (of course, make sure they are blocked before you post this) and add a blank column for the name of offenders or computer name.

I’ve never had to go further but haven’t had a CEO do this to me. Bottom line is CYA document all of the sites visited, when you blocked them to identify that you’re doing your job in blocking inappropriate sites as they are identified and the talking you’ve done with the CIO and CEO to try and get the CEO to stop.

Now for reality, run this by the CIO before you do this because if you’ve discussed it with the CIO, you’ve passed it of to him/her. You’re there to do a job and the CEO knows it. If you take the CEO down in an public format your job is toast and chances are you’ll have a tough time getting a job elsewhere. If you don’t like it and you can’t get it to stop subtle like, move on to a different job in another company and pray for better.

not a bad approach

In reply to You’re there to work at the CEO’s Discretion

I like your idea. I might modify it slightly if I were doing it, but the general approach is a good one.

You bring up an important point, though, though you don’t point it out explicitly:

A lot of the people responding in this thread have made suggestions about “targeting” the CEO in some way to get him fired, including going to the board, his daddy, the legal department, HR, or whatever. What they don’t seem to realize is that this WILL get you fired. I don’t mean that you’ll get fired if the CEO doesn’t get fired. Even if, by some bizarre miracle, some freak twist of fate that defies all the laws of physics, you DO manage to get the CEO fired/removed, he WILL have enough time before he’s gone to fire YOU as well. Don’t think he won’t do it.

At best, with an attack on the CEO’s job, you might (though I’m having a hard time imagining it) be able to sacrifice your job to cost him his. Chances are far better (approaching 100%) that your job is the only one that is lost, though.

Re:

In reply to not a bad approach

You seem to forget (or unaware of) the fact that in this country there are laws to protect whistle blowers. If his decision to take action is based on whether he’ll be fired or not, he might as well not do anything. I’m assuming he has a strong conviction about this or he wouldn’t have posted his dilema.

on the contrary

In reply to Re:

I haven’t forgotten it. I just know that it’s often an irrelevant matter. In American civil court, money talks.

Lock his profile down

In reply to CEO Should Be Fired

Only allow him to acces the intranet and sites on a name only basis. Anything else will redirect to disney.com.Or you can let him eat his own problems and let his stupidity destroy his own company. Or the best idea would be to block any file except htm, html, and aspx/asp. images, video and files are explicitly blocked by the filter to his machine.

Same problem in previouse Co.

In reply to CEO Should Be Fired

Hi dudes , had same problem in previouse co. In the end had to to use his IE cached website visited list to use as evidence to the chairman. Within a week he was history. My view goes like this, everyone knows its a no no to surf these sites . If you were just a footsoldier in the organisation , i guess its quite a trivial issue. Bit if you are the head hancho who sets the pace/policy/ethics of the co. then it has to be clear to all. Cos such “top-execs” will set the standard if not to the rest to the IT folks themselves.

This works when there’s a Board.

In reply to Same problem in previouse Co.

I can see this working if there’s a Board and would use it myself, but if this is a private company, there’s probably no board to take it too. I’d be reluctant to take it to the press if it’s a smaller privat company as it could cost jobs.

Re:

In reply to CEO Should Be Fired

Yes, but the CIO nor the IT Manager have the authority to fire the CEO.

Depends on the company

In reply to CEO surfs porn

How big is this company? I mean, if the CEO is the owner and it’s privately held, then there may not be much you *can* do. Not “to” the CEO, anyway.

In fact, I’d argue that “what to do” about the CEO himself is not your job, since you mention a CIO. That’s for the CIO to do. What I’d recommend you do is document it. Logs, screen caps if you can, instances of virus infection, so forth. Give the CIO the evidence he or she needs to make the case for putting this to a halt.

BTW, is the CEO all that tech savvy? If he’s able to get around your blocking, then maybe you should be working on that.

Basic Formula for Determining What Constitutes a Hostile Work Environment

In reply to Depends on the company

“However, the basic formula for determining what constitutes a hostile work environment is conduct that is so severe or pervasive, as viewed by the victim and a reasonable person, that it unreasonably interferes with an employee’s work performance.”

See http://www.szd.com/news/pub_info.php?PID=79
for a far better than average description.

The Hostile determination is not in the CIO’s or the CEO’s hands, that determination is made by the victim(s), and only one other reasonable person.

So maybe the size of the organization does matter. Thinking back to 19 employees and above qualifies the employer for the hostile classifications, in the USA.

It has been my experience that at the executive level (for larger organizations) this could be the start of a self destructive cycle where increasing dysfunction will be displayed until action must be taken by the organization in order to minimize the financial losses.

So, CIO’s it is not under your control, and never was. Appearently HR is not communicating clearly or consistently to all levels of the organization. I suggest that they double their efforts in order to limit the exposure now. They could even demand that the surf reports are sent directly to HR for their action.

After all Tech Support personnel viewing and taking offense is also a likely violation.

CEO browses porn

In reply to Depends on the company

You do not need to attempt to fire the CEO, instead you have to be carefl because the CEO is just about to fire you. The fact that the CEO managed to bypass your restrictions means you are not doing your job.
So instead of wasting time figuring out how to confront the CEO use the time to figure out how to tighten the access restriction rules!

From Lebalang.

SOX vs. Sex

In reply to CEO browses porn

HR and corporate attorney are good contact points. The key issue is now Sarbanes-Oxley. Any employee, paricularly the CEO, who repeatedly infects their company computer is jeopardizing the integrity of the company’s financial information.

Web-borne infections now include keyboard loggers, remote control and trojan software. Anti-virus vendors are just waking up to this threat. The malware evolves so rapidly that it is hard to find any product that gives full protection.

If the CEO’s machine is compromised, it opens access to a lot of confidential information. Probably also gives an attacker the ability to change key numbers. The CEO is liable to prison time if he / she signs the SOX statement about the accuracy of the company’s financial statements while engaging in behavior that jeopardizes that integrity.

I would present this as a compliance concern to the CIO and Chief Counsel – “I’m worried that our CEO won’t be able to sign the financial statement this year. Their PC gets infected so often that we can’t be sure our financial system hasn’t been leaked or attacked through that machine.” You have educated your management about the issue and done your job. They can decide how important the issue is.

DOCUMENT! DOCUMENT!

In reply to SOX vs. Sex

Use corporate email to document the actions of the CEO and his responses to your suggestions and requests. Once you have advised your CEO of the severity of his actions, leave the decision making to him. When IT hits the fan, and the investigators come questioning you, you will have numerous emails to the CEO that conclude by saying, “You have been technically advised. What is your decision.?”

Firewall

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Why not just block his general web access with ACL’s. Just add in the sites that he really needs to access. It might be long and harduous but it will do the job.

Reply To: CEO surfs porn

In reply to Firewall

yup. just block the *bad* sites. ISA server…

Blacklisted Domains

In reply to Reply To: CEO surfs porn

Some firewalls have a blacklist for domains to which access must not be granted and this usually allow settings such as BLOCK ALL DOMAIN NAMES THAT CONTAIN THE WORD “porn” or “fetish” etc (am sure you get the picture) and even IP addresses. Years ago in a previous job, over time we accumulated a list of over 100 such words and while our CEO was not involved there were executives and staff members who surfed porn, lottery, music and even horoscope sites.

My advice is NOT to challenge your CEO, your CIO did a dangerous thing but just let it go at that. Believe me, you cannot win this one. Someone suggested that you publish the logs – I DO NOT THINK YOU SHOULD DO THAT !!!!!!!. Block the sites as best you can, review the logs daily and include sites that he has been successful in accessing. This is a kind of cat and mouse game but its the best you can do.

Am sure he will say he is just testing how effective your firewall set up has been in detecting and preventing access to porn sites and while I do not doubt your sincerity, the fact is you have no conclusive evidence that he is not doing just what he says.

About the viruses, can’t you set up his machine that it automatically scans all downloaded materials?

Can’t tell God that he goofed in creating the universe

In reply to Firewall

Sorry but there is nothing you can do about this one other than double your efforts to eliminate the possibility of the CEO getting through your web filters.

Think of this as an opportunity to shine. Given enough time and effort you can nearly eliminate his ability to go to any porn sites. Also I’d download the latest virus defs to his machine every single day.

When you protect the network from him regardless of what he does, then in my opinion you are going to look pretty good. He’ll have to be impressed with your ability to manage the network. If you are presented with a dilemna, however, where he can get through and you can’t stop it without purchasing additional software, however, then you should find a solution and present it to the CIO in a general way.

“There is a potential threat that we cannot stop. A user can install *software* and get through. So I propose we purchase *software* to eliminate this threat”

I only see this as good for you. You’ll get a lot better at internet security and become more proficient at your job. You’ll look better to the CIO and CEO in the process.

Good to see!

In reply to Can’t tell God that he goofed in creating the universe

At last someone with a POSITIVE outlook. I agree that if the CEO can often get past your security measures, then your security ain’t up to scratch. By increasing the network security to the point where he CAN’T get to these sites is going to make you look good. This then reflects on YOU as the Network Manager! Sitting back and bitching on a public forum ain’t gonna get THIS fixed. You have to pick up YOUR game to fix this problem. Secondly, you have to document the intial problem, AND the resolutions to the problem – because if a major virus/spyware infection comes about within the Company because YOUR PROTECTION IS NOT SUFFICIENT, your job is gonna be on the line – NOT HIS! He can justify his actions by saying he is trying to ensure that the network is secure….what can you say then if he can still get through???

Just secure the network

In reply to Firewall

I agree with a couple of good people here who’ve said you just need to block the bad sites. If I were you I would consider his continues success in watching bad sites as an indicator that I am not doing a good job implementing the policy. Do your job and use his activity as a litmus to your success.

It is a BAD IDEA to consider suggestions like report him to shareholders, etc.. this is dangerous because I can assure you shareholders will care less what the CEO does on his computer provided it does not affect profitability of the company.

Take him as your security challenge. When he cant get any more sites then you’ve won. Good luck

Change the filter for this connection

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Since the CEO is a known threat to the integrity of the company, reverse the filter and/or firewall settings on him to be deny all, allow a few.

First all, assign a statice IP if he doesn’t already have one. Set the switch to only allow that IP and MAC on the given port (layer 3).

So for instance if the CEO was 10.10.5.1, then the rules be something like:

10.10.5.1:80 -> google.com:80 allow
10.10.5.1:80 -> wsj.com:80 allow
10.10.5.1:* -> any:* deny

By setting the above rules, the CEO will only be able to browse google and wall street journal, all other traffic will be denied. You can then have the CEO make requests to have other things allowed with justification.

This is the system we have for a few hard to manage, un-removeable (sp) persons in our network.

like this Idea!!!

In reply to Change the filter for this connection

sure beats the snot out of my idea, I would have placed him on a non network PC for about a month and let the virus, malware, and trojans just pile up. after the month or so when the system crashes and he begins to cry then maybe allow him MODERATE access to network. (on a seperate and blocked unit) some people need to get the kick in the pants for themselves before they listen.

Excellent idea!!

In reply to like this Idea!!!

Don’t even tell him you did it. Just say it had to be done for a technical reason to clear up the viruses!!!! SMART!!!

Re:

In reply to Excellent idea!!

Now you’re placing your employment status in jeopardy. For starters your assuming that the CEO is IT illiterate. What happens when he asked to be briefed by the CIO? Are you condoning purpetuating a lie?

cant ask ppls not to go to the perticular sites

In reply to like this Idea!!!

He may be a CEO or any other person. he has shown you that your network is not properly protected. you cant go and tell the users “do not visit porn sites”. you should have proper firewall, desktop policy, proxy etc. so that they cant go through that. if u fire him then you will get backfired that you are not doing your job properly, anyone can visit porn sites from our organisation, hehehehe. I am sure he didnt asked you to allow him to see porn sites from protected network.

Re:

In reply to like this Idea!!!

There are quite a few responses here that allude to what disciplinary/punitive action individuals would take to curtail the CEO’s activities. I’m curious how many realize where the CEO sits in the chain of command. Discipline doesn’t flow from subordinate to senior regardless what wrongs the senior is guilty of. We can adhere to company policy which ultimately the CEO approves and/or report the offenses to our immediate supervisors and let the issue work its way through the system. In this particular instance the real issue is weak systems administration. Someone posted earlier very detailed steps on what actions needed to be taken to lock down the network. That is where the network manager should be directing his energies. Searching porn sites is a moral issue (and a violation of most corporate policies), but it is not illegal.

Half the job

In reply to Change the filter for this connection

Good tactic to control, same type of idea I’d have used. You are only dealing with half of the problem though.

It is up to you as the IT Manager to formally tell the CIO (once more) that the CEO is up to his old tricks and that it contravenes (sp) company policy. You then have covered your butt in a policy issue. You then let the CIO what you have done to contain the problem, how many man hours at what rate it has cost him out of his budget to cover the CEO’s stupidity, also add in what pet projects of the CIO’s that have been backshelved as a result of the action you have had to take.

At this point, once the CIO (who is usually a bean counter of some description) has realized that it is costing him money, you ask the CIO what the escalation process is in this situation. (You know it, you have read enough of the policies and procedures to find out this other info out already)

Chances are a) It is the CIO or HR Directors job to bring this up with the board or a disciplinary panel at this level of seniority. b) the CIO as a bean counter will be so annoyed that he is losing money, that it will become a vendetta for the CIO.

We had a similar problem with our ex-CEO. He set off our IDS every day, we packet filtered and kept pages of logfiles. He got sloppy on other areas of his job and this stuff was used as support info for his dismissal.

It prevented him getting off because it proved a general slack attitude (sorry to swear in front of other IT slackers – but when the boss does this it is a bad thing, not energy efficiency like in your case)instead of him whining about making a little mistake that was out of character, we had the proof that it was an ongoing issue.

One other tack that you might liked to have taken was disconnect the idiot from the network completely and see if your friends can find you a 300-600 baud modem for his machine. Even perv’s get bored some time.

;o)

Where do you work? I wish this was true..

In reply to Change the filter for this connection

Where I am , CEO is top dog. No one can tell him what to do — oh we can recommend and suggest, with factual data to back it up…but that part you put in your post “CEO make requests to have other things allowed with *justification*”..that wouldn’t fly here not in 1,000 years.

It would be deemed “not being a team player”, “disgruntled worker” , or “insubordination to an executive” and would likely lead to being fired.

Used the Following

In reply to Where do you work? I wish this was true..

I have been entrusted to secure, maintain, and streamline the network and data systems attached there to. I have authority over those systems to make necessary changes to promote all things beneficial to these objectives and remove all things detrimental. As such, one’s behavior that causes such detrimental circumstances will be restrained or removed.

Now sir please tell me in writing that you do NOT want me to do the job for which I was hired; that you DO want me to allow things to transpire within our company that have been stated as NOT Allowed and Detrimental; and that you are above the “laws” that govern every other employee.

That was my basic argument. Also, when such statements are presented, always, Always, ALWAYS, have someone of C level and non C level there to witness it (CYA).

Not a bad idea, but you’d be fired here…

In reply to Used the Following

Your idea of the stating the effect on the company and why you are hired in the first place, even putting it in writing…great idea in theory, I really like it.

I’m just telling you if I did that here…I’d be sent packing the same day.

The CEO is the dictator. Bar None. Period.

He’d be humilated nonetheless, especially if I had witnesses…so I might not be fired on the spot…but I’d “mysteriously” be “let go” within a day or two. Guaranteed.

Heh…”Its good to be the king”.

(wonder if I’ll ever be able to say that about ME? LOL).

You da MAN!!!

In reply to Not a bad idea, but you’d be fired here…

Just in case you never get to say it yourself .:)

Catch him wanking – on a hidden video cam…

In reply to Change the filter for this connection

If you can , have security put a hidden video in his office, and catch him pulling one off while he’s surfing those nasty sites possibly with his office door closed.

Then – show him the Video.

Enforcing policy should now be a cinch – and while your at it – negotiate yourself a big fat raise.

Or get fired as you most likely will

In reply to Catch him wanking – on a hidden video cam…

Your choice. But trying to call the CEo on something is going to get YOU fired no matter what you have on him, excluding selling secrets to your competitors.

he is not hired to follow little company policies regarding PC use, viruses etc.

You have a job because these other people are not expected to know better and are hired for other tasks. He gets paid a geat deal more than you for what he brings to the table, you get your salary to keep the OTHERS (your peers, whether sales, reception, HR etc.) from selling out the compant and costing them money, the boss will ignore a CEO costing him $10,000 LONG before he will ignore a resume being sent out by a $3,000/mo secretary via Monster.com.

you are not there to police the CEO, end of story.

This is NOT a moral issue, it is a REVENUE issue.

The boss looks at it in black and white, HOW MUCh REVENUE DOES IT GENERATE? $0.00 (you are there to save revenue and you are a company expense no matter how much you SAVE them).

the CEO can be reposnible for generating MILLIONS in revenue each year, employers see revenue, not morals. If YOU were surfing porn, you’d be gone in a heartbeat. A for a MAJOR revenue generator, they will replace you with someone who doesn’t complain about the CEO’s usage.

Seen it, warned the IT guy against it, went to the goodbye party for his last day.

The next admin just did what he was hired to do, clean up after the bosses and keep the peon staff in line.

Sorry but there’s a reality to the cyberworld too. Top brass wil spend tens of thousands each year keeping these men/women happy, free golf, free travel, free private sports boxes etc. A few grand lost due to YOUR overtime is not going to get anyone fired, except the person who complains about the job he/she is hired to do.

REALITY CHECK!
get over it, or somone else will get into it.

Smartest Thing…

In reply to Or get fired as you most likely will

Oz…now THAT was the smartest thing said all day. End of story.

That’s what I would do

In reply to Or get fired as you most likely will

You had best leave Captain Horndog alone. You can’t win this fight. All you can do is keep good corporate anti-virus on him, and maybe schedule a spyware scan on a regular basis. Since you have already informed the CIO and made the hand off, keep your hands off and never speak of it again. The only person you can get fired it you.

it’s about where you rank.

In reply to Or get fired as you most likely will

I’m dealing with some of these issues now. There’s a level of employees(peon’s if you will) that are replacable and the company in general will try and spend as little money as possible to keep them happy. then you have your cheif exectutives that are generally showed with gifts, kick backs, bonuses, and “fringe benefits”, not to mention a healthy paycheck. When you on on that latter level you have a certain level of freedom.

There’s a difference between policy and reality. Porn might be against the policy, but the reality is you don’t want to take on the CEO. he didn’t get to that position for no reason. Generally shrewd people that aren’t going to take too much grief from a network admin.

If your job is to insure your network is secure and smooth running machine, then make that your focus. View this CEO’s activities not as a violation, but rather a challenge.

Mike

Hit the nail right on the head.

In reply to Or get fired as you most likely will

CEO is like the Don in corporate America. He is pretty much untouchable, especially if he is also the chairman/chairwoman. No matter what you are going to be a liability to the company. You have to remember that the CEO’s have friends just like you have freinds in the company, but his friendhsip may go way back and they will back the CEO up unconditionally. Why? becasue they can. The likely chance of the CIO and/or the VP of HR calling him on the surfing is slim to none. The laws that protect employees from wrongful termination and such doesn’t fly in the U.S. Court room, basically money talks and bullshit walk. Do yourself a favor, just do the best you can there and if it becomes unbearable, http://www.monster.com

Good Luck and think really hard about putting the CEO in front of the firing squad.

Revenue/etc

In reply to Or get fired as you most likely will

While I agree with most of what you say, as well as the fact that we “peons” don’t mess with the brass, I disagree with ou when you say that IT is an expense, not a revenue generator.

Shut down the network, and lets see how much revenue that company generates in a day. For that reason alone, IT is a very important part in the revenue generation property, whether the brass is willing to see it or not.

Re:

In reply to Catch him wanking – on a hidden video cam…

Now we’ve ventured into the rediculous!

seriously?

In reply to Change the filter for this connection

This idea sounds unlikely to work. Most CEO’s are fast movers and have very little tolerance for something they percieve as a hinderance to productivity. I seriously doubt you could accurately compile a list of all the acceptable sites he would ever want to go to. Getting threw to a porn site is bad, but it doesn’t really reflect on you other than your filter isn’t as tight as it should be. But once he starts failing to get to legitimate sites on a regular basis(especially if he’s the only one) then it is soley reflected on you and will change their opinion of your performance whether your decision was justified or not.

Not the route I would take.

Mike

Slight problem with that…

In reply to Change the filter for this connection

…the CEO will want to know the reason for the sudden restriction on his web access. Since he knows enough to “work around” the filters in the first place, it may be a little sticky for your net admins to have a credible explanation.

Re:

In reply to Change the filter for this connection

I think this is a good approach in theory. In reality, however when the CEO is not searching porn sites and is trying to run the company, having to call tech support everytime he tries to go to a valid web site can backfire and make the IT staff look bad.

HR

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Every company should have it’s checks and balances. Although the CEO is the top dog, HR should be notified of this behavior if it hasn’t stopped. HR has the power to document and even reprimand the CEO of a company regardless of how powerful they are. I’ve seen it happen.

I would also keep logs, emails, anything you can think of in regards to this just in case the heat comes down on you for some reason. In the end, you need to have the ability to protect yourself if need be.

Let HR run their course

In reply to HR

Once someone in an organization is confronted by the HR department for a violation of ANY company policy, the corporation now has a legal liability to correct it. If someone else in the company ‘happens’ to see the porn, they can file a complaint against the company with the EEOC of the state they live in. Now the company is in legal hot water because they knew about the issue and did nothing.

I would suggest that you, the top HR person, the company’s legal council and the CEO have a meeting to discuss this and the financial implications that it could have on the company. Once you show the CEO the financial damage this could do, plus the damage it could do to the reputation of the company with their clients and the potential loss of business, the CEO will change his ways and seek help.

Good Advice

In reply to HR

It is your job to report it to your superiors and the HR department and that is really all you can do unless he is accessing sites that are illegal such as kiddy porn sites. Then you should report the activity to the proper authorities.
As the CEO he should report to the board of directors and that is the body that would discipline him for this activity. Internet porn is a huge problem that affects millions of men and women around the world. It is a poisonous drug that can destroy a person. If he’s doing it at work you can bet he’s doing it at home too and the fact that he’s doing it at work is an indicator of the level of the problem. He may need to seek some form of counseling for this. Bottom line I think is to let HR know and let them handle the situation.
Good Luck!

HR IS NO MATCH FOR THE CEO!

In reply to HR

This is nice to listen to but is often far from the truth! I agree that you should maintain complete documentation for the purpose of covering your ass. But beyond that, and this includes fantasizing that corporate policies apply equally to everyone, forget it. You match up against the CEO and you will lose (meaning get fired with extreme prejudice)!

I’m from a third world country where CEOs are literally gods. The CEO of my company, who was a high government official projecting a squeeky clean and incorruptible public image, personally ordered me to acquire 5 brand new top-of-the-line PCs and a brand new HP laser printer and deliver these to a foundation where he is the executive director. He then gave instructions to prepare the necessary documents to make it look like the company donated the equipment to his foundation. He required the company technicians to visit the PCs regularly for troubleshooting. He even diverted software licenses from the company so he could install them in those machines.

I documented everything – kept every email and memo in hard copy. Then I showed them to HR. Two days later, I was summoned by the CEO who gave me what could be the worst day of my life. HR later gave me notice that I have to resign or I will be fired for insubordination.

I tried to bring the incident to the attention of the chairman of the board since nobody in the company would help. All I got was a cold shoulder.

Up to now, I still have anxiety attacks because of that experience. I now make out a living as a freelance PC technician. Life has been very hard since then. Finding another job has been very frustrating. This is what I got for standing up for what is right. This is what could also happen to you. Just ignore the pervert! Anyway he’s the one who will look like a sleazeball.

Our CEO is God

In reply to HR IS NO MATCH FOR THE CEO!

We discussed this issue with the company lawyer and because we are privately-held, the CEO can do whatever he wants.

There’s your answer

In reply to Our CEO is God

There doesn’t seem much you can do aside from putting new filters up and/or looking at a vendor who will do it for you, e.g. WebSense (blecch!). Don’t forget about blocking P2P apps too! As it’s been said before, keep up the CYA e-mails and let the CIO take care of it. Good luck, hopefully his self-destructive tendencies will become apparent to others.

Forward to wife, friends,etc…

In reply to Our CEO is God

This could be made to look like these sites mined his email addresses and sent these sites and locations to all.

Re: Forward to Wife

In reply to Forward to wife, friends,etc…

I don’t think forwarding to his wife, friends, or anyone else is an option. This is just being malicious and evil. Outside of the workplace this is really no ones business. The CEO hasn’t broken any laws and it’s not his employees place to police his morality. That’s certainly not what they were hired to do. Professionally, the IT manager fulfilled his obligation when he reported it to the CIO. If an employee has such strong feelings about pornography and don’t have the technical ability to curtail it (IAW company policy) then perhaps they should look for work elsewhere.

All well and good

In reply to Our CEO is God

But I noted in all the previous postings one key datum missing: what kind of porn is he downloading. If it is kiddy porn, then it becomes a matter for the police and FBI as that will be the only way to remove the CEO. If it is not, then do what you can and try to negotiate a better job elsewhere. And as always, document these incidents to CYA.

Ditto…

In reply to Our CEO is God

Except of course after talking with a lawyer about company issues in the past….he said more or less the same thing since the company is privately held…one thing though…

why did the lawyer laugh hysterically when we asked him to be on retainer for our company? 😉

Really sad

In reply to HR IS NO MATCH FOR THE CEO!

It’s really sad,if true

he’s a sexual oddball of some kind

In reply to CEO surfs porn

there’s no doubt. He’s pushing some kind of wierd limit and surfing porn at the same time. It is very close to sexual harrassment if your staff has ‘caught him’ a few times. This is gross in the work place. I would freak. I would tell him that 1) the staff feel uncomfortable when seeing this and it taints the workplace and 2) He is promoting this behavior to others who could also see that surfing porn is just a way of ‘breaking the system’ that way they can ‘get away with it’. I would tell him he is making alot of people uncomfortable and even have a survey or something signed by a whole pile of people or whatever to get the point across. Then go over his head somehow, is there anywhere to go?

truly sad state of affairs.

In reply to he’s a sexual oddball of some kind

sad to say but most guy like pretty girls in little or nothing at all. But there is a time and place for everything and work isn’t one of the best places for porn. Perhaps you should give this guy a designated “Nakid girly machine” whith appropriate labeling and location? (old pc in a closet with a superslow modem and a sign on the door that say’s in use by perv.)

Re: sexual oddball

In reply to he’s a sexual oddball of some kind

Keep in mind this is the CEO we’re talking about. How many employees will actually see him in his work environment? It’s not as if they lounge in his office.

I wouldn’t recommend getting (or attempting) to get a bunch of employees to sign anything. This is tantamount to a mutiny and best case demonstrates some lack of loyalty to the company. Ultimately, they’re at a greater risk of losing their jobs before any action is taken against him.

There was nothing in the original post to indicate anyone was uncomfortable. The only concerns that were presented is that he was bring viruses into the system. Ultimately the fact that he can continue doing this demonstrates shortcomings in the IT department.

Lemme know which company

In reply to CEO surfs porn

So that i can short it…

Use technology to beat the CEO

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Major policy based internet security have a fixed set of addresses that are “non accessable”.
Web Sweeper (from Baltimore) and Web Marchall has this facilities. Further, I you like to combat in this type of arena make sure that some financial losses are involved!
1) The server was down for 4 hours resulting in $$$ losses,
2) Install the new internal firewall on the CEO computer,
3) Upgrade the external firewall to the newest banned sites.
Usually CEO’s respond very well to financial losses, I would be the first option!
I hope this has helped you!

Virus idea ?????

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Ok
Maybe i’m going a bit overboard here

USE THIS IDEA ONLY WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS !!!!!!!

first make sure you unoticely have a full backup of all information including the CEO and other top management and workers.

Then put a redirect on his favorite porn site to a virus ( not networke capable preferably, unless your desperate ) and make sure he will have a few days downtime .
then tell your CIO and HR department that the CEO’s PC was down for x days and that he could not work due to his ignorance of policy.

If this fails to cause the desired waves then redirect him to a network capable virus BUT MAKE SURE YOU KNOW HOW TO DISINFECT IT AND HAVE BACKUPS otherwise your without a job.

If that does not help then he must be the majority shareholder or something in wich case your atempts are useless.
just leave it.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
have fun but be wise and make sure that all CRITICAL offices STAY ONLINE
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If your lucky you might be a hero and might get more respect for “seeing this problem come” and recovering everything while keeping critical offices up and running ( even if they might have slight downtime of 10 – 20 minutes maybe wich will further drive your point:-)

JUST REMEMBER TO BE RESPONSIBLE AND DONT GO OVERBOARD

PLEASE REMEMBER TO BLOCK EVERYBODY EXCEPT YOURSELF FROM TECHREPUBLIC IF YOU GO FOR THIS ROUTE OTHERWISE YOU MIGHT JUST BE CAUGHT OUT AND LAND IN COURT.

Johan
IT MANAGER

Have everybody do what the Boss does

In reply to Virus idea ?????

What has been said about this subject is fair and true.
If its a public company, you can have the CEO removed, but only with evidence.
You need to gather it and supply it to the CIO to act on, other than that it’s out of your hands.
If it’s a private company have everybody do the same and make it know that the Boss is Ok with it. or i.e. have every body waste time, soon he’ll see his company’s money going down the drain, he’ll stop.

Re: everybody

In reply to Have everybody do what the Boss does

The problem with your solution is that when the company starts to lose money, it’s much easier for the CEO to replace the employees than it is for them to influence him to stop. I can guarantee you there are people out there lookin for work that can perform their jobs without being concerned about what the CEO is doing in the privacy of his office.

Re: Virus idea

In reply to Virus idea ?????

Not only have you gone overboard,you’ve ventured into criminal activity. Just posting your comments here constitutes a criminal act (conspiracy to commit, promoting illicit activity, etc).

I’m not sure why the CEO’s affinity to porn evokes such strong emotional reactions. He hasn’t broken any laws and we aren’t the moral cops, are we? We need a professional approach to protecting the network and that’s it.

who is his boss?

In reply to CEO surfs porn

If your midsize company is like the one I worked for, there is a higher level above this CEO. I ran into this situation a few years ago. When I was unable to resolve it, I took it to a higher level and now he works for a different company. You have to present it as a request for direction and outline what you have done. If it is perceived as an attempt to get him fired, I do not think the result would be the same.

Sad and silly situation

In reply to who is his boss?

I really sympathize with you. I was in a situation that was similar. The CFO barely did his job, and was known by all to surf porn, try to pick up women in chat rooms, click on every email attachment, etc.

He was particularly good at boardroom BS, in a company where boardroom BS was really appreciated! I was there – he could make it sound like he was on top of everything, even though he was completely unprepared!

Everyone knew, and stayed away when the door was closed, and they could hear the keyboard rattling! For some reason, the mouse on that PC was turning black – an endless source of jokes when he was not around!

Such behaviour is tolerated, usually because they have friends, the owner or the CEO. If the CIO requests that you document, then you can discuss it. If you brought it up, and it was dropped, then you document only for your self, in case you get fired for the network being down all of the time, and need some proof to fight back with.

You need a way to document to prove that it really did happen, to show that you did not fabricate your documentation. This to to prevent the inevitable legal argument of “revenge of a disgruntled ex-employee” and you would probably want a lawyer friend involved!

You don’t want to waste a lot of company time doing this, either or you could get fired for that, too….

Technology is the better answer, so if there is a new piece of software that your company acquires, and it appears to have the side effect of removing all of his fun, then you can get away with it. This is by far the safest route!

Forget that crap about going to the board, or HR. That will get you the boot quicker than you would ever believe possible! I was let go under similar circumstances, and it was “justified” simply with “you don’t fit in”.

Be careful, and with any luck, it will take care of itself!

As a CIO

In reply to Sad and silly situation

As a current CIO, I can tell you that going to the Board or HR would be asking for trouble. I think that this is the CIO’s responsibility. I have a very good relationship to the boss. If one of my manager’s informed me of this behavior, I would have this discussion about professionalism, costs, leadership, etc. However, if your boss can bypass your filters, then I submit that your filtering strategy needs to be revisited. If the CEO’s computer is getting a virus then I would submit that your virus strategy needs to be revisited. Both solutions need to be redesigned! If all else fails, you may want to create a monthly report for the CEO on what everyone in the organization is doing as far as what sites are being visited and who the staff are … you can sell it as providing feedback to the organization. He will undoubtably see himself on the list and the sites that he has visited. When other senior managers see the report, this will be a wake-up call for the CEO. Good luck!

His boss is the owner–his father

In reply to who is his boss?

Because the CEO is the owner’s son, it is extremely doubtful that he would be fired.

that answers it

In reply to His boss is the owner–his father

There’s not really anything you can do. Do your job to the best of your ability, document everything, report your collected data when and where appropriate, and don’t overstep the specific tasks associated with your job. Meanwhile, look for a job at a company that doesn’t have this problem. If you manage to get a job somewhere else so that you won’t have to deal with this any longer, you might (politely) arrange for the CIO, or even the owner if you have his ear at all, to find out why you’re leaving.

The CEO is actively pursuing ends that contradict the necessities of your job description. Because he’s the owner’s son, all you can really do is document and carry on, and look for a better job in the meantime.

Don’t do anything that could be considered sabotage of company resources. Don’t go behind the CEO’s back in any way that might come back to you. Don’t confront him directly as though you have personal authority to order him around. The above could get you canned or, worse, in legal trouble. It’s not worth it.

That’s about all there is to it.

Talk “Dad’s” talk… $$$

In reply to His boss is the owner–his father

“Dad” is in business for profit. If junior keeps crashing the network, it cost the organization time, resources, and (most of all) MONEY!

Then again, if junior is the spoiled rich-kid he appears to be, you may want to consider looking for another position elsewhere; one that does not tolerate the antics of spoiled family members.

Sideline: For some of the responses I’ve read, ignoring a problem will only compound the situation. You must remain professional at all cost and do not compromise your integrity! If anyone is “let go” because they do not “fit in” (substitute – look the other way), then you will have grounds for legal action. Either way, beware and always be prepared.

Serious “Social” Problem… CEO Needs Help

In reply to CEO surfs porn

YOu have two issues here and neither is good. You have a CEO who has a social / mental / medical problem in that they are addicted to PORN and therefor needs a lot of help to overcome this addiction. You also have a serious issue with virus, security,etc. which is not something that you can overlook.

First you need to address the CEO’s access to these PORN sites. You can either totally isolate the CEO from the rest of the network, either through firewall access, direct connect to the internet, or by whatever means and therefore eleminate or reduce their affect on the rest of the network and let them surf porn to their hearts content, but not allow them access to any production servers, applications or other business related sites.

I am sure that this will not sit well with the CEO, but you have to protect your systems. Or, you can document and present to the Board of Directors / HR department and Legal, the fact that you have repeatedly brought this issue to the CEO and they continue to perform in direct violation to corporate policies (there are written policies against this type of behavior, right?).

If there are no policies or permitted use procedures – which also spell out the penalties for inappropriate use – approved by HR, Legal and BOD… you might as well sit back and enjoy te ride…. ’cause nobody is coming to your rescue.

Re: Social Problems

In reply to Serious “Social” Problem… CEO Needs Help

So many responses here allude to the fact that the CEO is the problem. The CEO is not the problem. The system administrator is. If the network were properly secured the CEO wouldn’t be able to do the things that have been discussed here.

The have been responses that allude to underminding the CEO’s authority or disrespecting his position by isolating him on the network, etc. I recommend anyone that would actually consider such responses think about how long they would last in their respective organizations if they were to follow through.

Ultimately, the fact that the CEO surfs porn sites is no ones business. Anyone who feels so strongly against these activities in my opinion really only have one option… look for employment elsewhere. Most likely the CEO didn’t develop the urges to start surfing porn sites by virtue of becoming a CEO. They have most likely had these urges most if not all of their lives. Despite these desires they managed to rise to a position where they directly effect the financial health and public perspective of their organization.

Notify the corporate attorney!

In reply to CEO surfs porn

With general HR policies being what they are today, and the litigious society in which we live, I think the company’s attorney should go at it from the potential Liability stand-point.

Any time the “L” word is heard by a CEO, s/he normally reacts immediately. Although it sounds as though a sexual addiction may be the root cause…

Use the Ethics Hotline

In reply to Notify the corporate attorney!

If you are in a public company, the Sarbanes-Oxley rules require a method for employees to report suspected ethics violations. In most cases this can be done anonymously. Look for that possibility. If there is no ethics hotline, I suggest going to internal audit and the audit committee.

Wistle Blowing is not the right answer –Only your Group knows about it

In reply to Use the Ethics Hotline

Whistle Blowing is a bad idea because only your Group knows about his/her browsing activity. Use common sense: the guy in Shipping doesn’t know the CEO’s browsing habits. All roads lead back to you.

You will have poked the CEO of your Company with a stick and humiliated him/her. How righteous and smart will you feel in the unemployment line?

Whistle blowing right off the bat shows you do not know how to communicate, provide an opportunity for feedback and positively promote and foster an open channel of communication between you and your Environment. The CEO is a human being capable of communication and reasoning just like the rest of us. ::I said capable, not promising anything more then that::

Address the issue one-on-one and privately –HR does not need to have their nose in the business. It is a private discussion between two Employees about the threat posed by Internet porn-surfing ::one just happens to be the CEO and the other the IT Manager::

If that is not clear enough think of this scenario: It is the annual shareholders meeting. The room is packed with 2000 Shareholders. Security checked your status as a Shareholder before you were able to sit down in your assigned seat (the more shares you hold the closer to the stage you sit.)

There are four public microphones from which a shareholder can address their question they submitted to the Q&A Committee to ask of the CEO and his board. It’s your turn, and you say to the elected CEO: “Mr./Mrs. CEO, I am the Network Manager. I am removing your privilege to surf the internet as it poses a threat to our Network. Surfing Pornography is a threat to the integrity of my Network and it threatens this Company.”

Think how creditable you will be then. I would venture to say they won?t call you a Martyr but more like a Jackass.

Remember, Executive Privilege is the only reason why you the IT Manager is not there his/her Boss discussing this.

Do not go for public humiliation ever. Give the guy/gal a chance to understand where you are coming from and meet halfway. You are being paid to be flexible and to negotiate for positive outcomes ::that’s the “Manager” part of your title, otherwise you can always step down if it is asking too much of you:: [Mike Dupris]

Huh?

In reply to Notify the corporate attorney!

Corporate Attorneys are the paid puppets owned and controlled by the Executives –that is the essence of their work. They are paid to clean up after the Boss.

Care to retract or do you really think there are Attorneys out there that could enforce their CEO’s web browsing activity? Even a private attorney can do nothing more then advise their Client to the best of their ability then let them run their own course. [Mike Dupris]

Did that….

In reply to Notify the corporate attorney!

The lawyer said the CEO is within his rights to do what he wants. He’s under no obligation to follow company policy, apparently.

IT IS sexual harrassment/hostile workplace!

In reply to Did that….

You can do something, you make a complaint. First, tell him straight out you’re offended. The law is on your side. Once you tell him, it offends you and it’s against *his* company policy, log and date that conversation.

Then every other time you have to deal with this, log it. If you get fired, you make your claim the the EEOC. If you don’t get fired and his habits don’t change, file a claim with EEOC.

Most of society has agreed that porn does not belong in the workplace. He’s wrong, he’s not God and you can do something about it.

Do your research. You cannot stop him, but the Federal Goverment via the EEOC can. Would he rather keep that stuff out of the workplace, or have his family name smeared all over the local newspapers?

Block what you can, do your job as ethically as you can so you can look your self in the mirror or sleep at night. If you get fired, take your good experience elsewhere. You will get another job and probably a better one.

http://www.novaforum.com/legaldirectory/labouremploymentlaw/sexual_harassment_in_the_workpla.htm

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-995658.html

http://www.allbusiness.com/articles/content/article.asp?ID=748&CenterID=35&CatID=1789

Good luck!

Re: Sexual harrassment

In reply to IT IS sexual harrassment/hostile workplace!

If he or anyone else were to personally witness the CEO surfing porn sites you would be correct, it could constitute sexual harassment (only after the offended person made it clear to the CEO that they were offended). All of your links are nice, but they need to be placed on the proper context. Just because we know someone likes porn is not grounds for a sexual harassment complaint. Just arbitrarily throwing around EEOC because we personally don’t agree with something only diminishes the effectiveness of the organization for those that have real complaints.

Protect what you can!

In reply to Notify the corporate attorney!

Your goal is to protect your network. Slow his present workstation down however you can, slower connection or whatever, so it’s not as fun to use to surf. Set up a second decent pc, make it cool,off the network for him to use for his fun pc. Cloak it the best you can with off the wall name unassociated with your company, etc. Image it and when it gets screwed up, reimage. This is your workstation and this is your pc, this one’s for work and this one’s for fun.

Re: Protect

In reply to Protect what you can!

Some of these responses make me wonder if the posters understand what a CEO is and what their position in the company is.

Re: Corporate Attorney

In reply to Notify the corporate attorney!

What liabilities are there? There are no laws against surfing porn sites, with the exception of child porn. Since the CEO is doing this from his own computer, I’m assuming he’s doing it in the relative privacy of his own office. The only real issue here (and I’m assuming) is that the CEO is violating corporate policy. In reality, the fact that the CEO can do this so readily, it’s possible that this company doesn’t even have a policy in place. In case they do, the only group with discipline authority over the CEO would be the chairman or the board of directors.

CEO surfs porn

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Just read up on SOX…he goes to jail! That should be the only wake up call needed! Oh, the CFO also goes to jail so if you have one you might also ‘cc’ them on this…

That or report them to the BOD(not the professional thing to do unless P&P state you need to, it dies fall within P&P and needs to be there if not currently).

reach me off line if you wish…

dbittlingmeier@yahoo.com
CTO, CISSP, PMP, MS

Oh Please!

In reply to CEO surfs porn

If you’re not bright enough to figure out how to get this dick-wad sacked you’re not bright enough to seek advice. However, in the light of it being Ramadan and all that – Send a copy of what he downloads to each of the top 10 investors. Make sure they know he is responsible for his actions, then watch what happens.

Profit rules

In reply to Oh Please!

The 10 investors look at the earnings report and balance sheet… see that the pornoholic CEO is a brilliant money-maker et voila… he keeps his job and gets a bonus to boot. The IT managers are replaced with managers who understand “the needs of the business” and who are willing to take reasonable “business risk” and it’s a done deal.

That’s reality.

Reality Bites

In reply to Profit rules

Right on Bree! Couldn’t have said it better myself. I wonder if some of the guys like Garham even truly work in IT? Such nieve comments. There’s the way the world should work and the way it really does. Try and go over a profitable CEO’s head and you’ll quickly see the difference.

Mike

kind of harsh?

In reply to Oh Please!

I think your comment is a bit harsh. A person asking for advice shows intelligence. Remember what we learned in school?
“There’s no such thing as a dumb question.”

The great thing about this dicussion is that it stimulates thought on the issue as at one time or another, we might come across this problem.

agreed

In reply to kind of harsh?

You’re absolutely correct. This is sort of an odd question to be trying to help someone answer, as graham.orr pointed out in his/her rather abrasive manner, but that doesn’t mean that the question doesn’t have merit. There are issues of intra-organizational politics here that can be extremely delicate, and must be handled with care.

Intelligence isn’t as much of a direct influence on the ability to handle this situation as experience and understanding of human nature. Experience comes with time. Understanding of human nature often escapes quite brilliant people for their entire lives.

Nobody should be excoriated for asking a question like this. I’m glad it was asked, and I hope I never find myself in similar circumstances. Yes, I probably could get the CEO fired, even if it is the owner’s son, but the risks involved are, in this case, a bit much. A network admin isn’t ethically obligated to solve staffing problems, particularly at that level. It’s not up to the IT guys to decide to fire the CEO.

Re: Harsh

In reply to kind of harsh?

True! If I came across this situation though, I’d be trying to clean my own house before announcing in a public forum that my network has vulnerabilities.

I do, however, disagree about the dumb question philosophy.

You are utterly w/o a clue…aren’t you?

In reply to Oh Please!

First off you sound more bitter than the poster which is seeking the advice…go back to your tea and crumpets, read a book on how to sack your elist snobbish attitude..then resume posting.

Now…the company is NOT public, its private..which means A LOT. Anyone who thinks public verse private doesn’t impact the situation is a complete knucklehead (and they should see me about a bridge I wanna unload on the cheap).

Re: Oh please

In reply to Oh Please!

Perhaps you shouldn’t be so quick to insult the intellectual capacity of others. Your solution presumes 1) that there are investors when the company could be privately (family) owned and operated. The original poster never said, and 2) even if there are investors that they care. If the CEO is making hundres of millions of dollars (purely hypothetical since I don’t know) for the company and by extention the investors, do you really believe they care what he does with his free time, especially since viewing porn is not illegal? I keep saying this, but, what’s one more time… unless he’s viewing kiddy porn, the only thing he is guilty of is violating company policy, and someone posted earlier that they don’t apply to the CEO. Everyone that is looking for a way to get the CEO fired are merely trying to force their moral values into the CEO’s company which they have no business doing.

actually . . .

In reply to Re: Oh please

The OP did, in fact, indicate that the company is privately owned, in later posts. More to the point, the owner is related to the CEO, if I recall correctly.

Your point is on the money, as they say. Nobody’s going to get this CEO fired for surfing porn sites.

Similar situation…

In reply to CEO surfs porn

…in my case it was the attorney. I am gathering its a small company and private, and all the advice to “get him sacked” or “go to the investors” just won’t cut it, those that are in similar situations know in small companies there are no investors. So, I would recommend the technology route. Most of the web filters allow you to add sites, so I would go ahead and bounce it up as high as you can, and if worse comes to worse, restrict his IP altogether except for certain sites. Good luck.

NOTES NOTES and LOGS

In reply to CEO surfs porn

As the person in charge of the inner workings of this system, you could someday be held accountable for how this CEO got by you.
There’s only one real defense,”RECORDs KEEPING”.
Write it all down when it happens. If and when the day comes that you are asked to exlain yourself, there will two things on your side, 1rst he’s “Your Boss”, 2nd “Your Notes and Logs,Time and Events”.
If you really want to stop this guy, report to a higher up and I mean “Way Higher”, so as not to arouse curiosity “with proof” and get then back to records keeping. Let the people above him know what’s going on and let them decide his fate. Just make sure to protect yourself and your integrity.
You’re the Chief Tech and you’re on the line here and so is your reputation.
Don’t fool around.
Good Luck
AaB

Actual expenses

In reply to NOTES NOTES and LOGS

I haven’t read all the responses but the folks who keep saying “document” the activities have missed one – time (person hours) spent on cleaning the network, if in fact it is getting contaminated as a result of the CEOs activities. Include the time that other workers are prevented from performing productive work while the repairs happen. This is one of the only actual expenses incurred that can be directly documented. That is until the “hostile workplace” suit arrives.

If it is your job to maintain the porn filter and it is company policy to prevent all similar activity, remeber it is never a completed project as the porn purveyors continue to change their coloration just as the spammers do. Or was the effectiveness of the porn filter oversold?

Finally, if the viruses collected by the CEO are overwhelming your network, please look at some the network based virus checkers including some of the smaller foreign based independent providers.

Killer !

In reply to CEO surfs porn

I had a boss who used to call us all in when he found good porn on Kazaa! He refused to have anything locked down and figured the network was for entertainment.

Luckily I was a sales rep then and not responible for the network.

In YOUR case, if he bypasses security and company policy, all you need is the logs to remove yourself from blame. If your boss has spoken with him, it should be documented or witnessed that it was brought up.

Sure you have to work to keep it safe but that’s what you are hired for, idiots like this endanger networks…enter IT dept.

Desperate bosses

In reply to CEO surfs porn

What I can suggest, especially for people downloading movie/music files, is to say that BSA – Business Software Alliance – works together with a lot of ISPs and major software companies to sniff for people who download & view/use them illegally (which is a fact!). CEOs will have to bear the hefty summon and also a possibility of a jail term, depending on the country you reside. Not mentioning the CEOs company name will be tarnished should it happen. For more info, feel free to check out http://www.bsa.org/.

As for porn, it pretty much depends on the type of porn. Can’t really comment much since it depends on country law and that your CEO does not care about his attitude. Well, a good start would be to keep all the logs of all the porn/illegal sites he visited. It may come in handy someday. Then, it’s to silently trace all the histories on his laptop (registry and profile) to support your argument. If not, he may argue that it’s all the pop-ups that caused the log entries.

Fight fire with fire

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Since the CEO most likely wields enough power to fire the entire IT department I would suggest a more forceful approach.

1) In our fine state the law requires that IT techs report instances of “illegal” porn to local law enforcement. What a shame it would be if his IP was logged visiting childporn.com… you would be obligated to report such vile filth.

2) Send a female member of staff to fix his machine next time he gets infested, have her file a sexual harassment complaint with HR or go for broke and file it with the EEOC.

3) Consult these links for more ideas:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/07/29/bofh_2004_episode_24/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/17/bofh_2004_episode_31/

One more

In reply to Fight fire with fire

4) If he’s married… an anonymous phone call to his wife might be rather effective, especially if the caller is another female and the porn was described as “gay porn”.

You guys will stop at nothing to be righteous ?

In reply to One more

first of all, all this does is create work for the admin, lets consider it job security if anything.

If the ‘porn’ is not of an illegal nature, gee guess what? This guy is as normal as BIILLIONS around the world, otherwise the porn indeutry would be an underground venture and not one of the largest revenue streams known to man.

You will NEVER EVER be able to stop people from surfing porn with ANY stretch of your imagination. They closed down hen houses, the men moved to the next state. They shut down ONE porn site, 15 more appear. It’s reality, until people can get a grip on reality they will fight against reality all thier lives, a truly uphill struggle.

so lets say you plot and twist and get the guy in a whole bunch of mess, his wife may not care about porn but his MISTRESS might, you bark up the wrong tree and you’re fired for slander.

he may not be surfing anything other than legitimate adult paysites, again you call in the authorities you will be fired for slander.

You complain to HIS boss, who may also be surfing porn, you are fired for slander (lets see just who has the pull, the $65,000/yr netadmin or $200,000/yr CEO) again fired for slander.

What I don’t understand is why all these former nerds hae become todays PC police. Playboys were in desks and staff rooms long before computers or the internet came along. if th eboss is a guy, you won’t gain too much sympathy that’s for sure.

Company policy? Only applies to the little people. Question it, you’ll soon find out.

Company expense? You boss will fork out YOUR $65,00/yr to anyone in a heartbeat that will just do the job and repair/clean up the crap.

your boss will most likely not be willing to fire a $200,000 emploeyee because a netadmin is complaining of costs or extra work. Sorry, policy and theory are one thing, reality is another.

Why do you think it hasn’t gone anywhere already? If it really WAS an issue of concern it would be addressed.

I had a boss who didn’t gie a sh*t what people thought of his behaviour. he would outright tell the secretary she was a dumb bit*h and she needed to get laid. many had TRIEd to sue him, most failed. A FEW got a few bucks, most lost thier legal fees to poor lawyers, but they are out of work and he continues to run his business even more succesfully than ever.

All you are doing is being the squeaky wheel, but in this case it’s cheaper to replace you with a new wheel than to grease you.

Focus on people that the boss cares about abusing his systems, it is’t going to be the CEO.

I am sure he is more concerned about staff visiting Monster.com than his CEO surfing even the most disgusting and insecure porn on the web.

These policies are to stop “cheapo peon” employees from costing him money, I’m sure he pisses away thousands entertaining his partners and buying drinks and rounds of golf for the upper management.

Absolutely right on response

In reply to You guys will stop at nothing to be righteous ?

Knowing which battles to fight and knowing when to leave are two of life’s biggest lessons. If it eats you up, leave. Your other options frankly suck.

Good shot, Oz-Get over it, kids

In reply to You guys will stop at nothing to be righteous ?

There it is! (once again, Oz, you have good eyesight). What do all these these self-righteous types do for entertainment when they can’t find anyone who doesn’t agree with their narrow view of the world?
They should wake up and smell the plastic roses. Money talks, BS walks.

Use the capitalist way: bill him

In reply to CEO surfs porn

The IT department is responsible for any downtime due to viruses or any other malware that gets into your company’s network.

Even if your company doesn’t suffer any downtime because of your CEO’s wreckless behavior, your department has to incur in extra work to check after his porn-site escapades. The IT department should register all expenses related to his conduct and bill his office for these expenses.

Good luck !

Exactly ,GOOD LUCK!

In reply to Use the capitalist way: bill him

Your boss will most likely be hapt to pay for any costs incurred by his less expensive emlpoyees time and will then start to think you are unable to do you job if you constantly put in OT.

He will soon realize that his $65,000./yr netadmin can’t take care of cleanig up after his $200,000/yr CEO. the CEO isn’t hired to pay attention to proper PC usage policies, otherwise you would not be needed and HE would be a netadmin.

Why does HE get paid more than you do?

Because his skills are VAlUED more thanm yours are. Stop trying to become a peer with a CEO, you aren’t and never will be in your chosen field of work.

the guy making the big bucks, brings in the big bucks. The IT staff are there to stop other low paid staff from costing the company money, the CEO GENERATED THE REVENUE THAT PAYS YOUR SALARY.

Who gets fired?

No Porn allowed – no matter who you are

In reply to CEO surfs porn

I have blocked any sexually explicit materials for everyone on the network. Everyone agrees. I work for a law firm.

Re: No Porn

In reply to No Porn allowed – no matter who you are

…and that’s exactly what many responders here have suggested. It’s unlikely the CEO is going to put in a trouble call because he can’t reach his favorite porn site.

Get a board member involved

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Have your CIO send a message to a board member.
Unacceptable behaviour should not be accepted or brushed under the carpet just because it’s the chief who is doing it.
What kind of example is he giving to his staff?

CEO DMZ

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Slowly strangle the bandwidth during porn surfing activites. Maybe you can condition him to avoid porn surfing. Plus you can secure the rest of the network from as many other issuse his machine may pick up.

Or generate those reports on web surfing activity from your proxy server. He might get tired of seeing his name in print.

if you ask me……

In reply to CEO surfs porn

I would swap porn with him, lol, I just couldnt resist.

Buy him some condoms for Christmas

In reply to CEO surfs porn

You’ll probably get a raise. Try and stir it up, you will probably need a job.

He generates money, you just save it.

His name isn’t ……….

In reply to Buy him some condoms for Christmas

ivan yakinoff is it???I think I have heard of him!

ROTFLMAO

In reply to His name isn’t ……….

I had to step outside I was laughing so hard after reading that one!

Glad you got a chuckle

In reply to ROTFLMAO

I could not take this one seriously due to the subject matter….

Better Yet…

In reply to Buy him some condoms for Christmas

Get a PO for hospitality services and procure the services of a hooker that can suck a golfball through a garden hose.

Porn-Ron or Enron, It’s his/her Company

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Keep in mind, that it is his or her Company. When He or She talks to you about how they were able to bypass or break Content filtering tell them that nothing is fool proof ?point out that even the antivirus application which is supposed to protect/prevent the workstation infection from the known viruses did not work.

Tell Him or Her that they are responsible for leading by example. Be frank with him/her that his actions do have an effect on the morale and Company’s culture. Be honest and let him/her know that yes it has reached to your level and even lower to the level of your Technicians. Remind him that Technicians visit each and every User and Workstation in the Company ?that alone should do it.

Be Frank and let him know that the Appliance provides a certain level protection but it is there more for general liability to protect the Company from Sexual Harassment Lawsuits.

Realize whether it is the CEO or the guy in Shipping, viruses WILL enter in to your Network Environment: regardless of NOS and OS. Making a stink about the viruses is a mute point. Part of your Job is to address how you are going to manage the causalities from Viruses; not what your Boss or CEO does day to day.

Finally, be smart: he/she is the Chief Executive Officer –it is THEIR Company. If they decide to drive it in to bankruptcy or in to XXX Oblivion (which you should be thankful it is Porn-ron not Enron) then there is next to nothing you can do about it. You will be fired and can you really afford to sue your Company, ruin your name and risk losing other potential jobs when they hear about what you did? [Mike Dupris]

It isn’t his company alone

In reply to Porn-Ron or Enron, It’s his/her Company

He has other peers that stand to gain or lose based on his actions. Everyone loses if he is an idiot.

I agree with your other statements about making him aware of why he shouldn’t download porn, and that no protection is 100%. But I don’t think you should give in to him. They hired you to run the network and he is an extreme security risk to everything. You can’t let this guy run the network.

For myself, I would not be able to tolerate someone’s porn fantasies on my network. If it was the CEO, I would ask him to set up his own private line if he wants to have that kind of access so as not to endanger the integrity of the network.

If thats not acceptable I don’t care. I’m not going to compromise myself to accommodate him. And I wouldn’t compromise the company’s network by allowing him to download porn, etc. That would be turned off until he was off the network.

My answer is definitely different because I am a woman. I am not going to tolerate porn, I can’t. So fire me. I will sue and I bet I could find a lawyer who would take on the fight pro bono.

Agreed and on your side

In reply to It isn’t his company alone

I’ve worked for a private companies, non-profit and public companies. My point is: at the end of the day the Boss is the Boss. Look out for Number One: Yourself. I am not endorsing nor condoning his actions (staying completely neutral as yes I have responsibilities outside work, just like everyone else here.)

Surfing Porn on the Internet is just as dangerous to your Network as anything else is these days. People seek and share pointless information each and every day –just check your Email Servers.

Ultimately the Company owns the Network and the Data Created on It. We do have a say, to some degree, but the Company run by the CEO has the final say.

Yes, that bonehead CEO will still be browsing BigBoobs.com.

Of course the Company also must abide by Local, State and Federal Laws; but if you have a big dumb animal running the show he eventually will find himself without his job or company if his judgment is that poor and he ignores his professionals.

Your idea, AmericanVoter is great. I would even take it a step further by securing his segregated Network and name it “DomainX” where he alone is the only user.

Most Executives do not want to be part of the Network anyway. They would rather be as close to their wireless home setup tunneling in to the Network rather then hardwiring.

You eventually will come across a situation that will make you feel as passionate about it as you do with Porn. Whatever it may be, you will have to ask what you can do to meet half way. That?s the art of Negotiation, no matter if it is Porn or an unsecured wireless Piece attached to your Primary Domain.

You do not have to accommodate the CEO. Which is fine and it is completely understandable and up to you. That is your choice and freedom. I think you will have a lot of moral and legal support behind your decisions. Although there is a way to meet half way without loosing your respectability, compromise your network and come out of it looking like the creative innovator they pay you to be.

I am saying it is a bad no win-situation. It is not about my personal preferences, tastes or tolerances. It is about making me an accessory after the fact. Frankly I do not like it. It is about CYA and FYI. Documenting what you feel is fine but what is more important is the documentation of what you did and why. [Mike Dupris]

Re: his company

In reply to It isn’t his company alone

Agreed, it is not his company alone, but he was put in CEO’s seat because he is expected to run the company and ideally make/keep the company profitable. Keep in mind that aside from what the law requires, all policies in the company exist because the CEO either directly or through delegation has allowed them to exist. There are no laws that control surfing for port, aside from kiddie porn. You speak as if you have more authority than what you really do. You would turn something off (I’m not aware of any ports or services specific to porn)??? What happens when you’re ordered to turn it(?) back on? Do you disobey the order? If you are so morally (since that is the only foundation you can function from) opposed to the CEO (or anyone else) surfing porn sites, your only recourse is to quit. When you take it upon yourself to start making changes to the network most likely you’ll be terminated. Professionally it would be much better for you to quit based on your beliefs than to be let go for insubordination. The ideal solution would be to make it so difficult for the CEO to get to the porn sites that he has no choice but to stop. Those working in networking/internetworking must maintain constant vigilance, and this includes reviewing logs, etc, to see where users have attempted or suceeded in visiting unauthorized sites.

How we solved the problem….

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Who “Owns” the company is a question here. In my case, our CEO reports to the Senior Partners, who are the worst abuses of all kinds of policies. Our answer was a very simple one. START PUBLISHING THE USEAGE LOGS!

Peer Pressure works wonders!

CEO Surf’s porn

In reply to CEO surfs porn

At the end of the day its the End users Culture that matters.
If your CIO is supporting you, then the best way would be to educate them again and again rather than fighting.
If there is a strict IT policy that says that you can quarantine the PC’s of policy violators, you should do so,
If there is no such policy, then the best part is to ignore.

Harrassment

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Every time he downloads this stuff, it sounds like he downloads a virus that you and your staff have to clean, and in the process find the pictures. For my part, I would find those pictures offensive, and since the CIO has told him to stop it, then any further infractions are sexual harrassment. Eventually, one of the employees will slap him with a harrassment lawsuit. At that point, the Board of Directors will have to fire him. Hopefully, you and and CIo have documented the times he’s been notified of the risk, or you could go down with him.

Re: Harrassment

In reply to Harrassment

Now that sounds like a do-able solution to the problem! There is no insubordination involved, no overstepping boundaries, and the point is made. I think it may be foolproof.

Circulate the logs

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Internet access is made available for business use, so how about regularly circulating a copy of the logs to senior staff (so they can see what their staff are up to!) that way, they can speculate who in the company is surfing porn………….

Another possibility

In reply to CEO surfs porn

All of the suggestions here are brilliant and to the point, but would be more easily applied to an employee under the CEO than the CEO himself.

Any kid in a garage band knows the “It’s his basement” rule. His enjoyment of the porn sites is not the real problem. The underlying difficulty are the thrills he enjoys while exerting his power and control. Instead of going heads-on in this power struggle, go through the back door.

What if the CEO were given a second PC with all the bells and whistles on a separate ISP account? One is the company computer for business, and the other is for his own use, whatever use that may be. If he gets his kicks from beating the protection programs, he can do it over and over again.

Annoying as it would be, it’s more cost effective to replace/repair one trashed drive on an isolated unit than it is to effect repairs on the entire network.

One PC is for work and one is for play. You would, of course, have to protect the network from his personal PC emails.

Our latest ploy

In reply to Another possibility

This is, in fact, our latest ploy! I’m wondering whether or not he actually will use that machine instead of his laptop since it will require rolling his chair over to a different machine….

Good Luck!

In reply to Our latest ploy

Only time will tell. He will attempt to email and drive you crazy, and will be frustrated because you have his ISP address blocked.

Can you have your real mail server isolate his emails so they are not returned to him as “refused” which will only get him started. You’ve been through all that already.

If you have any questions…

Maureen

Cooking his goose

In reply to Another possibility

Aside from all of the filtering you’re putting on the network applicances you need to keep an eye on the specific content of the porn he’s downloading… but do it remotely.

Looking at porn is legal, UNLESS it is child porn — in which case you call the local police and report him. His goose is then cooked.

Imagine the look of surprise on his face when the blue suits show up and haul his perverted behind out in handcuffs.

You could then add a little more heat by producing documentation you’ve kept on everything you’ve done to thwart such activities including dates. It will be clear that he’s not just “trying to defeat the software.”

Buy him a Mac, bright red

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Put ‘porn machine’ sticker on the front. Separate connection to the internet. He can surf all he wants, not connect to internal network, and there’s only a few (so far) Mac viruses/trojans/malware/adware/dialers out there.

Seriously, the only way to prevent him affecting your network is to get him OFF your network when doing this.

Oh! Reset his homepage to Spywareinfo.com 😀 Let him read for himself.

Hehe..anyways, good luck.
Gryf

Seriously, Get Him His Own Connection

In reply to Buy him a Mac, bright red

then just filter everything through a DMZ back to the original
network where necesary to connect to data & DB servers;
otherwise web apps go on unimpeded & your primary network is
in the clear.

Practicality rules

In reply to Buy him a Mac, bright red

I was going to make the same suggestion. Assuming he owns the company this is the ideal solution. Glad to see political correctness stops at the border.

It could be worse… Like a former client of mine, he could take the company database home to work on and bring it back the next day with his work undocumented.

Talk about job security!!!!

Anyhow, there are lots of folks here who need to lighten up a bit.

Happy days!

idea

In reply to CEO surfs porn

when the ceo is out of the office, dowload lots of gay porn to his computer and make it a rotating screensaver..

Re: Idea

In reply to idea

Does one morally wrong act justify another potentially job ending morally wrong act? By downloading gay porn you become guilty of the same thing you’re trying to stop the CEO from doing.

Relocate him Iraq

In reply to CEO surfs porn

US military guys nowadays are enjoying their party in iraq. I would suggest the associates of company to better send him iraq where there is no internet nowadays. His habit will defiantely and drastically improve.

If my boss watched spanktravision…..

In reply to CEO surfs porn

I would make sure to swap out the keyboard and mouse before working on his PC…..then I would probably A. keep quiet about it or if it was obviously illegal and I saw it… B. report it to the authorities….Knowing that most likely it would mean my job….these people live in a different reality than :”staffers”…..

You would take out the drums?

In reply to If my boss watched spanktravision…..

Scott!

Behave yourself!

Maureen

Sorry!

In reply to You would take out the drums?

I could not resist….everything that could be said about it has already been said, so I figured a little humour might lighten it up a bit!
Scott

Scott, I didn’t know what was funnier-

In reply to Sorry!

The source (you) or the topic. Often I see things here in the discussions that really raise the smarta$$ or the punster in me and it takes every effort to resist making any comment.

I was howling with laughter – I needed it.

Later,

Maureen

Maureen…

In reply to Scott, I didn’t know what was funnier-

I am glad that you go a chuckle out of my comments…..that was their sole purpose…
These ceo types that surf porn all day while their minions do all of the work should leave if they can’t play nice…..and I say if they can’t play nice, they should play by (not with) themselves……
Scott

Puns eh?

In reply to Scott, I didn’t know what was funnier-

Then I probably shouldn’t encourage you to read Spider Robinson’s Callahan’s saga.

Too Late

In reply to Puns eh?

I am already encouraged!

Especially after some of the heavy duty stuff I’ve been reading – “Rampage – the Story Behind School Shootings” very sad and disturbing stuff.

Usually when I take a break, I read a ‘whodoneit.’

This sounds like a change.

Maureen

Murder, Most Foul

In reply to Too Late

Did you mean to say that it wasn’t the butler polishing the teapor, but the CEO in the board room with a hankie?

Sorry it was just too much to resist!

Murder, Most Foul

In reply to Too Late

Did you mean to say that it wasn’t the butler polishing the teapot, but the CEO in the board room with a hankie?

Sorry it was just too much to resist!

Just keep doing your job

In reply to CEO surfs porn

What difference does it make. Your job is to secure the network and handle problems. Any website can be dangerous and there’s no way of telling which will be a problem. If he’s getting past your filtering then perhaps your not doing a good enough job and are exposing that fact each time you complain.

Actions speak louder than words

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Suggest strongly you allow his machine to become infected then isolate it from the network. Due diligence works and damn the torpedoes.

Porn Surfer

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Take a copy of the ‘surf log’ and the ‘company surfing policy’ to your HR manager. It is part of their job description to deal with things like this, not the IT Guys.
Give it a reasonable time to stop, if it doesn’t,
speak to HR about activating the formal grievance
proceedure.
Use your HR department, that is what they are there for!! They should be able to advise you on the exact course of action to take and relevant time scales.

embaress him

In reply to Porn Surfer

Set up a routine that
1) Turns his speakers up full Blast
2) Audio that screams ‘I’m watching gay porn’
3) Puts naked men on his screen (blurred of course
4) disable all shut downs except power button
5) Set to auto start at boot
FOR YOU
6) Key stroke routine to kill OR Remove his hard drive to clean
7) Trigger the routine when he’s on Porn site

Risk Acceptance Document

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Require the CEO to sign a risk-acceptance document which
outlines the risks of surfing these and other porn sites. Such a
signed document will not only protect the IT group from blame,
but can also be the basis for future action in case a higher party
wants to intercede.

Re: document

In reply to Risk Acceptance Document

Do you honestly believe that he has the authority to “require” the CEO to do anything!??? He is hired labor whereas the CEO is by definition the top officer of the company. Come on people!

The approach I used

In reply to CEO surfs porn

I had a VP that gambled on the web. He would not stop when he was caught and talked to by my boss or myself.

The last time he was caught we mapped a drive to his admin share on his win2k station and deleted all the files in My Documents – we backed them up first. When he cried we told him a virus he got while gambling just like we warned him had damaged his computer and we needed to format his drive.

This took us some time but it solved the problem

I’ve not seen this mentioned, but consider..

In reply to CEO surfs porn

The thing no one seems to mention? If he accidentally surfs into a Child porn site.
If caught? Care to guess how many computers the authorities will be seizing? More than just his.
If he has surfed into a child porn site and you have NOT turned him in? Charges can be filed against you, also. And just so you don’t feel lonely? Anyone else there that was aware of his indiscretion.
But I think making the CIO aware of the fact that you could lose the CEO’s computer, and, depending on who comes to get computers? Every server under your control. Every computer in your network, including a customers/vendors machine. (Looking for his stash)
All of us here know that they should come in and make mirror images of all your storage devices. Care to bet on it?
I had a similar situation, but lawyers owned the company, so it was cleared up fast.

Re: consider

In reply to I’ve not seen this mentioned, but consider..

Actually, child porn was mentioned a way back, but the original poster didn’t mention anything about child porn. Since he is clearly concerned about his CEO surfing porn sites, I would like to believe that he would have enough sense to notify the authorities if child porn were involved, but that’s blind faith on my part.

Protect by isolating

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Your goal is to protect your network. Slow his present workstation down disceetly however you can, slower connection, slow ram, or whatever, so it’s not as fun to use to surf. Set up a second decent pc (make it cool and fast)off the network for him to use for his fun pc. Cloak it the best you can with off the wall name unassociated with your company, etc. Give him the talk about the facts of life. Pcs are not necessarily anonymous on these porn sites. Blackmailers love high profile porn lovers. Credit card info is not necessarily safe (if he’s going that far). Then, image it and when it gets screwed up, reimage. This is your workstation and this is your pc, this one’s for work and this one’s for fun. Your network is protected and he still gets to satify his addiction.

Reply To: CEO surfs porn

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Tell him you are offended by the material and request he stop. If he doesn’t let him know you will file a lawsuit about sexual harassment in the workplace.

Reply To: CEO surfs porn

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Tell him you are offended by the material and request he stop. If he doesn’t let him know you will file a lawsuit about sexual harassment in the workplace.

Reply To: CEO surfs porn

In reply to Reply To: CEO surfs porn

That sounds like the quickest way to the street to me. Use diplomacy, after all, we have the power. Setting the filters to deny all then allow only a few is the best solution. He has no power in the technology because he probably doesn’t understand it (like many CEO’s).

Re: the street

In reply to Reply To: CEO surfs porn

I agree with your approach. What’s sad though, is that the CEO as you stated probably doesn’t understand technology yet he can still beat the IT guys who supposedly do understand technology.

Internet Access

In reply to CEO surfs porn

If the company has a written policy on internet usage, it would be time to enforce it by shutting down the CEO’s access to the internet. At places where I have been, ALL employees had to sign a copy of the internet usage policy and everyone knew that it could mean loss of their job or access to the internet.

let him

In reply to CEO surfs porn

vlan his port straight out to isolate his PC from the rest of the network.
He signs the paychecks so its his network just make it safe for everyone else.

It is his company

In reply to let him

IT works for the company, not the other way around. If the CEO chooses to access the Internet as he/she chooses, so be it. As someone else suggested, just make it so the company network doesn’t get compromised. Give him a separate Internet access. If a change is ever to occur, it will come through the CEO’s actions, not anything anyone else will do.

Policy Def

In reply to let him

Additionally, a business policy is a broad guideline, not a hard, fast rule. I am amazed at how many of use choose to put our 2 cents worth into this comment. We must ALL be pretty fascinated with ‘porn’ Is everyone just jealous?

It’s his company to lose

In reply to CEO surfs porn

You’ve done your due dilligence and documented your findings and recommendations up the chain (key word is documented). The bottom line is that the CEO is responsible for the company. If they choose to act irresponsibly with company resources, it it within their rights. Keep the resume fresh though, if their vices outweigh their willpower, their scorn likely outweighs their ethics as well.

Let him sabotage himself

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Next time he gets viruses and spyware from the porn sites, pretend to clean up his machine, but don’t and let the OS self destruct or secretly shut off his network connection. Then maybe he will learn the consequences of his action.

Wear Gloves move on

In reply to CEO surfs porn

FIRST OF ALL, wear rubber gloves when you use his mouse and keyboard! Good chance of stray DNA.

This is a no-win situation.

Protect the rest of the company from infections that he may bring in. Can he be put in a DMZ?
Secure his PC as much as possible.
Make sure it has all the patches.
Turn off active X and Java (if he hasn’t already) as well at the “install to desktop” and “paste vis scripts”.
Maybe even move him to FireFox to reduce some of the exposer.

After that is done, just document EVERYTIME you have to stop working so you can clean out his system.

Maybe the company would buy him a subscription to Playboy to get him to stop placing the company at risk?

Enforcing company policy is not the job of IT. You detected an issue and notified the correct people. It is now out of your hands and you will only get your walking papers by trying to enforce something that you don’t have the authority to enforce.

Good Luck.

Purpose built firewall appliance.

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Using a purpose built firewall appliance maybe the answer to your problem. With a unit like the ones from Fortinet you can use it’s content and IP filters to severly restrict porn sites rather easily even if you are using DHCP. If he has his own IP it’s even easier. We had a problem with only 1 employee, but we bought a unit for under $1000 because we had a repeating virus problem in other networks. The unit will handle up to 2000 users, has a DMZ, and one of the best policy systems on the market. Cured our virus problem right away and at the same time cured the surfing problem. Our unit (Fortigate 60) stays up to date automatically and is relatively maintenance free.

There seem to be two problems

In reply to CEO surfs porn

There seem to be two problems. One is that the CEO is a pervert. The second and more serious is that he causes security problems within the company.

There is probably nothing that can be done about the CEO being a pervert.

On the other hand, something can be done about the security problems. These security problems are generally associated with weaknesses in IE. The simplest answer is to replace IE with something like Firefox, which doesn’t seem to have security problems. Or at least, the security problems, that it might have, are not being exploited by the malware writers.

This simple change should be sufficient to solve most of the problems associated with security.

As far as the boss being a jerk off, he’s probably not the only one 😉

Ian

Re: Problems

In reply to There seem to be two problems

IE does have security holes, but it’s unlikely that switching to firefox will resolve the underlying issue. The network in this case needs to be locked down and the IT team needs to be more vigilant in reviewing logs, etc, to determine where the weaknesses are.

and . . .

In reply to Re: Problems

What if they discover that IE is part of the problem? Allowing web access to IE is allowing a hole in security. It’s that simple.

Re: and

In reply to and . . .

It’s common knowledge that IE has security flaws. However, many organizations are more than capable of minimizing the impact of these flaws. Despite all its flaws IE is still widely used effectively in the industry, and many organizations do so without problems. It’s unlikely that there is anything that can be done short of taking away internet access of the CEO that will stop him from reaching porn sites, but procedures can be put into place that mitigate any damage that can be done from surfing these sites. Potential spyware, virus’, etc, should be trapped and isolated prior to doing any damage to the network.

Tell his wife

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Job done.

Make sure you have another job to go to first.

Seriously though picking a fight with the CEO is like pissing against the wind. Let it go.

Just as a FYI the banning of alll sites containing certain words falls flat on its face more times than you might think. I seem to remember Scunthorpe council workers not being able to access their own site as pretty good example….

Power of the Press

In reply to CEO surfs porn

2 choices:

1.) Notify local press about his actions but document how many times he “tests” prevention devices or systems. With corporate scandals being what they are, the press should/would take this on.

2.) When scanning his PC, make sure he hasn’t downloaded any child porn. If he has, that’s a felony and you are required by law to go to the police! Period.

Secure his machine

In reply to CEO surfs porn

As he is the boss you may be biting off more than you can chew by taking him on.
However there are non confrontational ways of dealing with him. There is a great product out there called Securewave Application Control Desktop- http://www.securewave.com – which works on the white list principle when running software. If set up on his machine – and others – you can control what runs in his environment whilst auditing him at the same time.
If he downloads a virus/trojan/worm etc securewave won’t allow it run saving your tech team a great deal of work.
If in the future you are able to take action you’ll have an audit trail of what he’s done.

Great product, and I don’t even work for the company.

Beat him or join him.

In reply to CEO surfs porn

If he is just trying to ?beat the system?, then lock it down further. If you see that he does get to a porn site, block the IP. Most firewalls have the ability to block by URL and have ?Banned site? filters. Some firewalls even have content filtering that stop specific types of files from being downloaded. Better yet, setup some logging to find out what he uses for work and only allow him access to business sites that he has accessed in the past.

If he only wants the porn, show him how to get it safely and securely. There are plenty of legitimate and safe sites out there. If you can show him a way to access it more efficiently, he?ll think you ?fit in with the culture of the company?.

Don?t bother fighting with the owner?s son over this. You?ll never win.

Bad Bad CIO

In reply to CEO surfs porn

The Simple answer is to turn over evidence of this behavior to your Audit team. This
could result in a board review and CEO dismissal

dollars and sense

In reply to CEO surfs porn

what the ceo may not grasp on the technical side of this situation i know he will understand in the cost factor. track the time that it takes you and your staff in dealing with his horse play. and then have the cio present it to the ceo. this may help to shed some light on what he has to pay out for his lack of understanding.

Realities of Policy

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Many people have been coming down hard on the fact that porn is “allowed” to get through the security levels in place. Of course this should be investigated, but the reality of the situation is porn, like spam and viruses, is the slippery eel of networks. you can filter key words all you want, they will find pseudonyms. Block an IP and there is a mirror site that bypasses it. Usage policy is an honor system that needs to have real consiquences when broken. How do you hold up the policy makers to their own policy? Remind them of their role as examples to the company.

Document and Use It to Blackmail

In reply to CEO surfs porn

This is probably illegal, but he should be warned one more time by the CIO that if he continues to do it, evidence will be turned over to the corporate lawyers for a lawsuit. The lawsuit would be for violation of corporate policies and creating a hostile work environment. Also, if the CEO tries to retaliate by firing the CIO, the lawsuit will commence will all due haste. Of course, be sure you have concrete evidence first and documented that he has been warned.

I would think that any CEO would back down to avoid embarassment of a lawsuit over such a thing.

>_<

In reply to CEO surfs porn

The more I read these posts, the more the thought solidifies that we can no nothing against a god.
If god wants to rape you and make you clean up the mess, then so be it.

I REFUSE to listen to some of you guys that say you can’t do nothing.
Some of you talk about being submissive; know your role and stay there.
My job is simple, I execute it everyday and NO ONE is above company policy.
When you start to enact that thought of, “Well, he’s the guy that pays my check, so oh well”, you lose.
Business is a game of chest.
If you can’t do it nicely, then you find other ways to accomplish your missions.
Isn’t that what our companies tell us?
If you don’t have the tools to complete the missions, then you improvise, overcome, and adapt.
We are NOT the ones that have to bend over and grab our ankles saying, “Please sir, may I have another?”
We are the workers behind the scenes, and no one shall prevent us from completing our mission.
And there are some of ya’ll that are going to say, “See, it’s because of people like you that dictators are formed, and with that thought, you?re going to overstep your boundaries.”
We have strict guidelines to our position, so don’t give me this Gestapo crap.
You stay within those parameters and execute them flawlessly.

And for those who are “afraid” of getting fired, then I say unto you, STOP BREATHING MY AIR!
If you are that afraid to do what you’re assigned to do, then you don’t deserve to be there at all.
You live down the path of no regrets, and do your job.

Re: >_<

In reply to >_<

I think most of the responses that I’ve read are more focused on the fact that the CEO surfs porn rather than the real issue. Surfing porn sites is only a symptom of the real problem. Taking away the CEO’s computer, internet access, or whatever, doesn’t change the fact that the network is clearly vulnerable. The IT department should be looking at how they can better secure the network. The company that I work for has 90,000+ employees worldwide. It’s unrealistic to think of all those employees there isn’t going to be a single individual that does things they aren’t supposed to be doing.

CEO and Porn

In reply to CEO surfs porn

I had a very similar situation with the CEO of a client company. Our solution was to provide him with a separate broad-band hook-up and a laptop that was used only for accessing and downloading subjects that satisfied his purient interests.

Just use standard practices…

In reply to CEO surfs porn

1) Move his profile information (desktop, registry, other settings) and data to a network drive. (Keep profile info separate from data)
2) Remove all data from his local machine except the operating system and application executables
3) Give him a user account on the local machine and remove admin access to his own machine. Give him read-only access to local drives. (Except, possibly a temp directory, but make sure it is deleted after every logoff.)
4) Limit his access to his profile information to setting wallpaper and changing skins.
5) Install software that automatically checks network and local drives for viruses, and keep signature files up to date. (Quaranteen infected files)
6) Keep backups of all profile information and data on network drives.
7) Regularly check audit logs and report abuses
8) Implement e-mail filters that check for viruses and spam.
9) Track patches and keep all software up to date. Implement a system for automatically updating workstation software.
10) Keep firewall rules and filters up to date.

Does he really want to stop?

In reply to CEO surfs porn

I know drunks who would love to stop drinking when in their right minds, but who lose commitment as they pass a bar.

If the CEO’s promises to stop are a mere “get out of my office” then other suggestions here may be appropriate. I especially like the idea of a second computer isolated from the system. He’s a big boy, and if those are the choices he’s embracing he will certainly reap the consequences quite apart from anything you or HR could do to him. It isn’t your job to parent him, police him or counsel him. And any concerns about your enabling him are moot – you are already doing so with the access he has.

BUT if his promises to stop are heartfelt, one way to assist him might be to subscribe him to a service like I saw advertised on http://www.promisekeepers.com (or perhaps the Focus on the Family website). I believe it puts a small program on your computer which sends a note to their site listing the web sites one visits as they are opened, and once a month (or week?) they email the list to someone else you specify (like one’s wife, pastor, or boss). You could automate something like this using your existing logging software, I would assume, and even suppress known “OK sites” or ones which might somehow give away company secrets if SOMEONE ELSE KNEW.

If the struggling addict knows that wifey will be getting the list of sites he visits, it might give him a bit more resolve when temptation strikes. And it fosters personal responsibility – it isn’t a battle to try and beat NetNanny, but rather it helps a fellow ask “do I really want to be doing this – especially if my wife will know?”

He’s proven that his promises won’t be kept the way things are, and leaving the situation the same and hoping for a different outcome is a fantasy. The setup has to be changed, perhaps with this sort of reporting.

Re: won’t stop

In reply to Does he really want to stop?

Viewing porn is not an addiction, it’s a personal choice that reflects character. It’s also assumed that those close to him outside of work don’t already know that he enjoys porn. I only mention this because one of my co-workers wife is always emailing him pornographic material at work which itself is somewhat bizarre since they live in the same home and she could easily pass it to him when he got home. You’ve made some good suggestions here that can be effective for those that have a smidgen of a conscious. There have also been some other post here about the sexual harassment aspect of this, which could also be a deterent used by those that are impacted by the CEO viewing porn.

Fire this guy

In reply to CEO surfs porn

To me, this is an open and shut case. HR should be notified asap. This guy is going against policy and risking a huge lawsuit to the company. My company has walked several employees out the door for the same kind of stuff.

Re: fire him

In reply to Fire this guy

…but, HR doesn’t have the authority to fire him. He can only be fired by whomever has the authority to hire him in the first place. In that case they would have to place morality above profit (assuming that the CEO is making them money). As we’ve seen in the news over the last few years though with companies such as Enron and Worldcom, profit and finalcial gain can be powerful motivators.

Several ways to deal with this:

In reply to CEO surfs porn

I have experienced this myself. You have several choices:

A) Let him keep doing it. The next time his machine is infected WIPE the drive and tell him that he had a bad worm (due to his surfing habits)and you were unable to salvage anything. If he doesn’t keep any data locally on the PC this won’t be very effective, but if he does this will be highly effective and satisfying.

B) Lock down his machine.

C) Contact HR. This dum*as* has to be violating his own policy.

Been there, done this:

In reply to CEO surfs porn

I have experienced this myself. You have several choices:

A) Let him keep doing it. The next time his machine is infected WIPE the drive and tell him that he had a bad worm (due to his surfing habits)and you were unable to salvage anything. If he doesn’t keep any data locally on the PC this won’t be very effective, but if he does this will be highly effective and satisfying.

B) Lock down his machine.

C) Contact HR. This dum*as* has to be violating his own policy.

Been there, done this:

In reply to CEO surfs porn

I have experienced this myself. You have several choices:

A) Let him keep doing it. The next time his machine is infected WIPE the drive and tell him that he had a bad worm (due to his surfing habits)and you were unable to salvage anything. If he doesn’t keep any data locally on the PC this won’t be very effective, but if he does this will be highly effective and satisfying.

B) Lock down his machine.

C) Contact HR. This dum*as* has to be violating his own policy.

Your Fired!

In reply to CEO surfs porn

The CEO should be fired. An example to other employees that no one is can violate the policy. He is a liability to the company on many levels.

If another employee is fired violating the company policy, it shows preferred treatment, the company would lose in court.

A sexual harassment case against the company and himself (the company knows this is going on and is allowing it to happen). The company could be held responsible in a court case.

HR is there to protect the company. Collect the evidence and facts of why this isn’t allowed and refer the matter to HR. You might want to get a letter from the company laywer as well.

IT does have the ability to disallow access to the internet completely. He abuses the use, violates policy, remove access (this goes for any employee). Even access to the sites that are required him to succeed at his job. Let him fail at his job and get fired for incompetence.

Not your problem!!!

In reply to CEO surfs porn

If you are the IT Manager and you work for the CIO…..it sounds to me like the CIO has a serious problem to deal with….and its not your problem.

What I’d do

In reply to CEO surfs porn

In the last 10years of IT support I’ve run into this a number of times and it is very hard to do anything about when it comes from the top down. When working with employees and I ran across porn, I’d simply state that they need to be careful, that its addicting and can be very career limiting move if found by one of the other employees and reported.

But I’d also temper it with humor and confidentiality as I feel that my position requires that users be able to trust me. I’ve never busted anyone for porn, and have even had employees tell me it was their boss that shared it with them. One company I worked for, I scanned public servers and autodeleted MPG’s on a weekly basis. Nothing said, but the point came across. Attempting to bust your CEO for being male, weak and affected by porn is a really bad idea.

However, I protest against the other extreme that has been stated here as well. There are lots of things you CAN do about this but many step outside of the role you are paid for and may require a higher moral standard and showing leadership skills on your part. Stepping to the dark side of the IT force is only going to get your fired and have worse effects on you morally. Why not take up the challenge and try one of these options:
1) If he’s up for the challenge, install Cyberpatrol on his machine without letting him know the password to shut it off and see if he can break past its porn blockers. Do it as a “We’re just trying out some solutions” and then let him have at it. I haven’t been able to get around it.
2) Gain victory by admitting defeat. Give him the victory by admitting that he got past your filters! “Wow, Good job, you got to the Gay porn sites despite our best efforts.” Then ask if this is something he’d like you to spend a week to a month improving cause we all know its impossible to find and block EVERY site, or if a change in policy is in order since this is apparently an ok thing for employees to do. (You might want to word it better). Sometimes the less you say, the more in understood. The ethics of a company come from the top down. If he doesn’t care, then…
3) The next time he gets a virus, let him know that ‘Yea we’ve seen this one before, lots of people have been getting it. It was ripping through development, source code servers and the HR servers last week. We’re not sure if anything was stolen or hacked, hope not!’ Don’t mention it came from him, let him connect the dots. Mention the costs in time and effort to IT and the rest of the company. Maybe how some major project wasn’t completed. He’ll listen to that. Even if his boss is daddy, Daddy not going to like it if the company takes a hit because of something stupid like this.
4) Finally, you can just admit this is the way things are and let it go. Trust that this guy’s not an idiot, that your CIO hasn’t attacked him over it for a good reason and move on to other items. Some battles you can win, others you loose, most arn’t battles at all. If its your holy quest to remove all porn from civilization, consider a career move to any major church or a number of conseling centers.

That’s what I’d do.
-Rob

Re: do it

In reply to What I’d do

Nice post. Addresses the issues as opposed to trying to be a moral compass.

The Buck Stops Here!

In reply to CEO surfs porn

By law the CEO is responsible for his actions as well as those of his subordinates.

Viewing porn on company time with company resources is more than just social and moral issues … it is a form of corporate exploitation and a violation of criminal laws.

A written policy on corporate web use is an important tool is resolving this issue. When the Board of Directors signs off on the policy it must include ALL employees, including the CEO.

Violators should be counseled, and continued violations should be grounds for termination and possible prosecution in criminal courts.

The key is to have a good corporate policy in place.

Re: buck stop

In reply to The Buck Stops Here!

You didn’t say what country you live in, but in the U.S. there is nothing criminal about viewing porn unless it’s kiddie porn. There is the sexual harassment element, but for that to be true someone has to be offended and make sure the offender knows that they are offended. If no one is offended then there is no problem. The original poster mentioned that porn sites were a source of security issues on his network. He never said anything about being offended by porn. Others have introduced that as a way of curtailing the CEO’s porn viewing habits.

Not A Technological Issue

In reply to CEO surfs porn

You are dealing with more then a user who is not willing to abide by the security policy of the company. The CEO of a mid-sized company in many cases is, or has the mental picture that they are the owner of the company and therefore feel it is their right to do with the assets of the company whatever they choose. Someone with this mental or physical position can causes issues in many aspects of the company. The fact that this individual has chosen to ?spend his free time trying to go to porn sites ? at which point he downloads images and movies and viruses? goes to a deeper issue here. Plus the fact that your ?CIO, has spoken to the CEO about this a couple of times, explaining to him the real dangers to the company of his behavior.? Then ?He always promises to stop, but never does? speaks volumes to what Behavioral Researchers have found. The habit of Viewing Pornography is an addiction that needs to be addressed. This is not a technological issue as much as it is a sociological issue that should be address by the board of directors of the company.

This issue is overstated

In reply to CEO surfs porn

First, what he is doing is a waste of time and just as damaging to him as it is the company. However, if he owns the company, he can do what he wants. Surfing porn is not a criminal offense, although it is offensive to some. If done in the privacy of his own office where nobody else can see, it is his own business. Remember who is signing the paycheck. You do have the option of looking for another job?

This problem could just as well happen with IT personnel. Who watches their activities? If he can beat the system I am sure the IT staff can as well. And they know how to cover their tracks. IT people are no more ethical than anyone else just because they have technical skills.

A former employer of mine would send out memos to the employees regarding abuse of the Internet and e-mail. The IT people and upper management abused it as much as anyone else.

The main issue in this situation is the viruses. They can be contracted from any type of Website. Employees should be cautioned about Web browsing on un-trusted sites. If he chooses to ignore your warnings, he pays you, so do you job and remove the viruses. You do have updated virus software?

Challenge is the issue

In reply to CEO surfs porn

I think the real issue here is the CEO want to show how “smart” he is by beating the IT Department and the web filtering software. Unless he is accessing child porn (which should be reported to law enforcement immediately), the specific content he views is not the real issue (or should not be). Yes, it is a waste of corporate resources but I’m sure lots of other people surf to eBay or other sites that are not “work related”. However, putting the company at risk through viruses, worms, trojans, etc. is the issue that must be dealt with. Document each occurrence; I would probably hire an attorney right away and involve him or her in what types of documentation I need. Then in the event you are fired, you will have documentation that was provided to an attorney prior to your termination.

Ten step program

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Not to make you a social worker but go to this web-site. http://www.newlife.com/resources/
Slip him this ten step program which can .

10 Steps to Overcoming Pornography Addiction

By Steve Arterburn
1. First, you must acknowledge the addiction exists. Many who are caught in the trap of addiction will adamantly deny the problem. He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. – Proverbs 28:13

2. You must recognize that what you are doing is wrong. Addicts find a way to justify their problem in their mind. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. – I John 2:16

3. You must not blame others – “If my wife/husband were just more affectionate.” … “If women/men were not so seductive.” Adam blamed Eve and she blamed the serpent. Instead, you must begin to take responsibility for your actions.

4. Make yourself accountable to a spiritual authority, perhaps a pastor or mature believer. Everybody needs a “safe” person to share their struggles with. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. – James 5:16

5. You must recognize that “will power” is not the answer. At a weak moment, your “will” may fail you. By admitting that you are in need of God’s help, you open access to His supernatural intervention in your life. You must yield your will to God’s will. That’s when He can begin a new work in your life.

6. Study the Word of God concerning sexual purity. Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the Word implanted, which is able to save your souls. – James 1:21

7. You must destroy any pornography in your possession. You can’t wean yourself off pornography. Think of the hidden pornography in your home as a ticking time bomb that will ultimately destroy your family.

8. You must learn to flee temptation. Self-deception may enter when you think you can play with fire without getting burned. Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it. Turn away from it and pass on. – Proverbs 4:14,15

9. Give yourself time to work through the process of recovery. More often than not, God chooses to take us through a learning and growing process, that can be very painful. Victory over addiction should be viewed as a marathon, not a sprint.

10. It’s clich?, but you must approach your addiction one day at a time. Look for little victories and rejoice in the progress you’re making. Recovery is a cinch by the inch, but a trial by the mile.

Take Up The Challenge!

In reply to CEO surfs porn

If the CEO thinks it is fun then take the challenge to him. See if you can shutdown his activities by blocking his access, locking down the permissions on his computer, and purchase better software because the one you are currently using is not working.

The end result, an additional line in your resume that states, “Expert in Internet Security”

fix his goat

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Send a female employee in to see him when he is surfing or to service his computer. Then after catching him in the act, let her run to HR screaming “sexual harassment” and I’ll bet that will fix him!

Can do whatever he wants!

In reply to CEO surfs porn

The CEO ownes the darn place! He can run through his office naked if he or she choses. And their is nothing the subordinates can do about it. Thats the way its is- even CEO president Clinton proved this fact very well. The CEO can break whatever rules he/she choses thats why they are the boss

Yup, so live with it — give him his own DMZ

In reply to Can do whatever he wants!

Accept that you can’t stop him, and plan your network security accordingly. Put him on his own VPN, and firewall the heck out of him. If he complains that he’s lost some functionality, give him a second computer on the normal network and explain that using _that_ one for dubious purposes would be a _really_ silly idea.

Report to Company Shareholders

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Simply putting this issue to the company shareholders should either embarrass the CEO enough to have him knock it off, or the shareholders may replace him with someone with a little more common sense.

not a safe idea

In reply to Report to Company Shareholders

Even if that works as you suggest, reporting it directly to shareholders would likely get you fired. That’s especially true with a privately held company.

I know how to stop this problem!

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Send a link from another email address to the CEO directly to this discussion…:)

SOLVED IT !!!

In reply to I know how to stop this problem!

Set up a disk cache system software or involve some server mirror that records all the clicks, and sites, then send them live to everyone in the company for about ten minutes.

Also be sure to show HIS login names and HIS emails as the one accessing those accounts.

Then you just have to make it look like he got a virus that did this. Ten minutes into it, while your phone is ringing off the hook and your not answering it, make a general annoucement that the computer system will be down until a newly acquired virus that broke through the firewalls and protections, is dealt with.

Then send him an email, and BCC the other executives, stating that it is him, you know it and he knows you know it. If he doesn’t stop this at work, you will send it not only inside the company, but to his customers and vendors as well.

What this does is give him an “out”. He can come out with an annoucement that says, “this will not be tolerated here at XYZ company” and “anyone caught doing this will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Meanwhile, remember the other executives are getting these emails as well. So if he threatens you, or fires you, or has any other reaction other than fake concern, your covered.

Just a thought.

Before doing that make sure your resume is updated

In reply to SOLVED IT !!!

You might be spending a few months on monster.com look for a new job.

love it just needs a little more subtlety

In reply to SOLVED IT !!!

I reckon a not quite so threatening approach after the mayhem broke loose – maybe “I believe our current security measures stopped this going outside the company, but can’t be sure – YET. The repeated security breaches INTERNALLY from one particular PC on our network etc etc etc”

Harden the security of the servers and workstations.

In reply to CEO surfs porn

In reality, these actions by this person in charge display a tactless business environment. I feel for you in dealing with this individual. I suppose if he is into this, imagine what his admin staff goes through on a daily basis in dealing with this a$$.

I propose hardening the workstation policies to the max. Setup IE zones, lock everything down! Do not leave any stone unturned. There needs to be a way to especially make it difficult for [him] specifically-to restrict the hell out of the WWW
via policy or GPO pushes, whatever.

In the meantime, if you can get ahold of GFI LANguard Network Security Scanner and run it against his assigned box(s) periodically. This app will reveal good info. Make the case in documentation! Keep pushing the issue while not making a CLM – career limiting move in the process.

Good luck.

Warn the CEO on monitoring

In reply to CEO surfs porn

I don’t know what is the hirarchy in your company, but thi may work if your CEO has a boss above him.
A friend of mine had the same problem and he told the CEO that this activity is monitored and can be viewd by everybody, and the IT policy allows the CEO’s boss to have access to this information.

IT has worked in this case

Health Risk to you and your staff

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Remember what he is most likely doing after he downloads his porn. Does he wash his hands before he shuts the site down? Probably not.

What will that say the next time you or your staff work on his system if you stop and put on rubber gloves first?

Buy him a subscription to Hustler and..

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Make sure the virus protection on his machine is up to date and remove administrative rights so he does not pose a threat to the rest of the system.

small matter

In reply to CEO surfs porn

It would probably also help things to get him Firefox as a browser, and see if you can get him to use that instead of IE. That’d cut down on the danger to the network that he represents.

So do your job

In reply to CEO surfs porn

It the CEO is getting around your defenses, then you are not doing your job. Your virus protection, firewall and workstation policies are lacking. My next question would be how good are your external security and keeping the hackers out. Fix the perimiter defenses, install an appliance the checks all traffic for viruses. Install network virus protection, keep the definitions up to date.
Make sure the firewall is maintained and updated with patches and rules as new threats appear. Lock down the workstations. As the IT Manager your resposibility is to have the talent avaiable to resolve the techincal issues, whether the talent is internal or external, it is your responsibility to see the job gets done.

I don’t know how big your company is

In reply to So do your job

But if you are big enough to have a staff legal counsel and/or board of trustees, have your CIO put it to them. You have a policy, and especially if you have had to discipline someone on this matter, and the CEO should not be imune. If you’re not that big, well the only thing I can tell you is to tighten things down some more.

So what does that have to do with my response.

In reply to I don’t know how big your company is

If the CEO or any other individual is bypassing security measures. Then that means that the measures are not sufficent, so the question becomes how secure in the network. Which in turn means the IT Manager is not doing his/her job.

FORMER Bank of Ireland CEO

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Introduce your CEO to the former CEO of the Bank of Ireland. He was sacked for visiting porn sites.

simple solution

In reply to CEO surfs porn

I had a very similar problem with the CIO and he was untouchable. The cure was to setup a single machine that was originally for the employees that wanted to play games and it evolved into a
porn machine. All of the machines on the network were blocked except that one. It even gives us a sort of early warning on new viruses, worms and popups. Kind of like a test bed to try new software on and determine a plan of attack in the event that our network does get penetrated.

Depends on who is casting judgement

In reply to CEO surfs porn

nudity, sexuality, and pornography all have to be considered in a work place. shouldn’t this be a place for netnanny or some other filtering software site? what if I choose to look at nude bronze figures on the web? could it be considered pornographic if you add a 3rd person?

get him his own line

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Get him a second PC with it’s own dial-up connection and let him surf to his hearts content. As long as he is not connected to your network, he can’t expose you to the security risks. And you won’t have to deal with a constant stream of his viruses either. He might be offended, but if you put it to him in a sincere, we really do have a problem here atitude, maybe he will be shamed into stopping. And at the very least with his own private line he won’t cause you any more problems. I originally thought about this as an amusing response to your problem, but the more I think about it, if you can get it done, the problem will be gone forever. Of course it never needs to be said or known what he is using his second computer for. You will have to make up some reasonable sounding purpose for his having it. Maybe giving him freedom of movement while he surfs the internet because he is the boss and he shouldn’t have to be restricted by the companies access control lists or whatever. If you think this is a rediculous idea, it does sound pretty funny, but some version of it might work.

CEO surfs porn

In reply to CEO surfs porn

As IT Manager your are responsible for all of Company Management Information Systems. These inclued the challege of Web sites. Therefore you need two things to keep this to happen.

First, you will have to make a company letter and have posted in each employee files of understanding for web is for “COMPANY USE ONLY” and not for personal use, have each employe to signed and dated. Violation to this matter will be company santions, inclusive remove of his/her password form the net and web sites. Post warning labbel to the web filter, Company main Screen and Everytime someone try to sign in. (NOTE: Talking to a member of the Company trustes or shareholders, about a Topic: “What if someone from Management do… to these what they will say in regard off.

Second, a log in date/time of the offece to keep track. After all you can recommend to revoke his authorization from use the company internet services by block this computer from all IT services. If he scream, then you have him/her in what we call cry CEO….. Let it have it.

Sincerely yours,

JV

villalbaj78@yahoo.com

Most of these posts will get you fired

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Anyone telling you to find ways to enforce this and stop the behavior either has not read the posting well, never been an IT admin, or does not have your best interests in mind.

Your job is not to police the company computers. (IT Nazi)
If you find someone breaking policy then you notify the correct people, bosses of the individual.

After that if they decide not to do anything about it then that means you can do nothing about it.

Protect your network and get on with your life.

The most reality based response I read

In reply to Most of these posts will get you fired

I think jdclyde is 100% on target. You were hired to do a job and the responsibilities did not include CEO supervision. Once you have acted according to your level of responsibility, accept it and move on. Recognize that there are some things you can’t change. Accpet it or find a new job!

I’ve never received a virus while porn surfing

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Just kidding…about surfing porn, that is.

Dude! What webfilter and antivirus programs are you using?

I would credit the CEO with bringing to light the huge holes in your implemented security technologies.

Short of the CIO going straight to the President (if this is a different person) or the share holders, don’t think there is much to be done.

Perhaps encourage someone to file a lawsuit?

Re:

In reply to CEO surfs porn

First, the issue should be handled between the CIO and the CEO. Second, if the CEO is able to able to circumvent the system, I think the system needs to be looked at. I can understand that filtering software is not 100% which is why the technical staff may be required to make occasional tweeks until the CIO can convince the CEO that he is doing damage to the system and compromising security.

As to the virus part of the equation, the technical staff needs to re-evaluate their policies. The CEO visiting porn sites should not allow viruses into the system. A more aggresive approach to virus protection may be in order.

One last note about the CEO. If there is a board of directors perhaps the CIO can bring the CEO’s violation of company policy to their attention and let the pressure come from above if nothing else works.

porn only workstation

In reply to CEO surfs porn

give him a workstation on its own subnet and in the DMZ to be devoted to surfing porn in addition to his business workstation for Christmas.

While your at it, set it up to reimage on reboot and so that he doesn’t lose all his porn each time, have it automatically save on an FTP server where he can get his saved stuff at home or on the road. If you post the URL here at TR, some of the pro’s here will help ya out making sure it doesn’t crash.

I’m not into porn, so I can’t help ya there, but if no one at TR wants to help, just start a newsgroup or IRC channel and I’m sure you can find some admins that will.

Hope that helps! 🙂

Internet policy

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Your policy must clearly state the company’s position on this matter…in terms of action to be taken when policy is violated

Re:

In reply to Internet policy

You are forgetting that as CEO he is at the top of the food chain and most likely approved/or will approve the policy. Whose responsibility is it to ensure that he is disciplined???

best way to stop him surfing

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Buy the very best of piss and cum,scat bdsm,animal videos for him.After watching these anything else on the net is too tame and he won’t go surfing anymore.Also get one of the secretarys to give him a good blow job at lunch time.Who wants to watch porno when you can have the real thing.
See problem solved.Give us a job(not a blow job)
The boyce

not so

In reply to best way to stop him surfing

Do you really think you can’t find that stuff on the Internet?

Possibly illegal

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Should any of the porn that he is looking at involve minors, law enforcement would love to hear about this. This is a crime and if convicted the CEO will be classified a sexual prediator. But this will definitly affect the life of the company and your job.

You’re already handling it

In reply to CEO surfs porn

I’ve been down this road….including stuff more severe than porn which involded outside agencies – so –

Your doing your job. That is, you report your findings to your boss.

Who are we to interpret what is porn & what is not? Who are we to form a legal opinion?

In my case, via many HR requested investigations, I viewed many images, movies etc..which I considered exreme………I was told (by an expert) that due to the subtle ways in which they where shot……..A judge would HAVE TO consider most of them “Artistic impressions”

Incidently, I’m not into “porn”…..but I’m not “prudish” either – for what that’s worth.

Having made that statement, could you tell me if I would enjoy “Debbie Does Dallas” or what I may consider “porn”?

Please don’t answer that, I’m just saying one persons porn is another persons “foreplay”……….(This applies to women too…..I used the word “persons” intentionally.)

In the workplace, this stuff belongs to HR. If there is no HR then follow your chain of command.

Do yourself a favour – Suck it up and realize there are many freaks out there. Most of them hold “high” positions. (laugh)

Seems like your CEO already has a handle on things 🙂

At the end of the day ——- None of us are lawyers or the police. We report our findings and remember – NEVER FORM AN OPINION ON WHAT YOU FIND, IT IS NOT YOUR ROLE. Look at it this way -It seems like a challenging environement anyway……..you seem to be learning a lot about network security! It’s all good.

If, for whatever reason, you feel you should be doing more – Update your resume & shop arround.

Best advice I’ve seen

In reply to You’re already handling it

Though I didn’t read through all the 10 million posts (oops, exaggeration again).\

You’ve done your job, now you have to depend on your boss to do his (and so on up to the CEO).

The only way around it would be to put copies of it in a manila folder, and mail a copy to each member of the board of directors (if you have a board), the owner (the guys father), and his wife (maybe she’ll get some good ideas out of it).

Hmmm, maybe the best idea would be to just drop it, and keep blocking all of the porn sites that you find him visiting. (hehe, disable all traffic where node = CEO and destination = Internet)

Thanks, There are still times

In reply to Best advice I’ve seen

that I probably should’ve used that manilla folder you mention…….hhhmmmm 😉

Then again, a drink & good company are allways better than going home & kicking the cat in anger. Yes CAT, I’d never hurt my dog.

Then again…..I still like that third paragraph through. Suitably evil but subtle, classy.

Maybe I’ll call my wife, go home and have a game of “It guy & the CEO’s wife” eeerrr never mind…

No matter how you cut it…..It’s not our job, not our call. Do the job, go home happy. Anything else will drive you nuts.

I mean really, who the hell are we to pass judgment? We’re IT Pros, most of us barely sane to begin with (IMHO here!), not shrinks, cops, priests or lawyers. I know, that lawyer one was a bit much, but insurance guys don’t fit this thread. Oh, while we’re on the subject, if your an attractive petite brunette, like hand cuffs, make a lawyers salary, have the disposition of a priest and would consider posing for me in my office please call eeerrr never mind……

Your last paragraph says it all! I’d just add the trip to the bar with a few friends…..or the bosses wife…….errr……..never mind…yes I remember now…. paycheck = disable all traffic where node = CEO and destination = Internet = chain of command = job = paycheck.

It’s what we do, not (Necessarily) who we are.

Did I mention a thick hide a good sense of humour helps?

Have a good one!

Yeah, fire that punk

In reply to CEO surfs porn

If you’ve talked to him enough about it, then it’s time to step over his head and talk to his boss…

There’s no excuse, and no one is higher than the law. If the rule is NO, then it’s NO!

Mrafrohead

Risk

In reply to CEO surfs porn

The CIO has to put his concerns in writing, tactfully. Then live with the problem.

anybody see the office

In reply to Risk

if youve seen the UK show the office this will seem like a very David Brent thing. My advice is to take revenge by setting it up so his wife finds out about his antics, if he has one. The software i find helpful is Safesurf for stopping this abuse.
bestwishes

Re: revenge

In reply to anybody see the office

Since when is revenge an appropriate course of action in the workplace or out? Most of the post here seem to recommend a course of action based on individual views on pornography, but completely ignore the more significant issue of the vulnerable network.

security is not the only boundary

In reply to Re: revenge

Since when should it be a competition to see who can worm there way past network security. The internet guidelines are there for a reason, and in my workplace, even if people cant get past the security feature, the attempted access is logged, and appropriate action is taken against the offender. The CEO is a slight exception, because he can be extremely difficult to discipline (no pun intended). Therefore other action should be taken, maybe finding his favourite porn sites and redirecting to other interesting sites automatically, such as the Salvation Army website, and Pervs anonymous. This tends to work well. Good Luck to you all, and merry Christmas.

true

In reply to Re: revenge

I, personally, find people trying to get someone fired for looking at porn to be closed-minded, judgmental, and generally offensive, and I don’t even go porn-surfing myself (yes, that’s right, I’m in a minority among males). I have no idea what anyone would be getting “revenge” against this CEO for, since it doesn’t sound like he’s actually doing anything to hurt anyone. The problems here are in the CEO’s willful violation of network security standards.

If he can’t be convinced to get himself in line, the only thing left to do (short of quitting) is to clean up after him and report to your immediate supervisor. That’s life.

yep

In reply to true

trouble is, how would you like your butler to tell you what you can and cant do in your own home?

I have it!!

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Spray contact adhesive all over his chair. Then, when he drops his pants to play with his goat, hia ass will get stuck to the chair!!

Yeah, that’s it…

Two ways to deal with this Tugmeister

In reply to CEO surfs porn

1/. If the Tugmeister has a web cam try to catch a few “personal moments” and then make the video nasty available to him via popups which he can’t get rid of (via an internal website which, to him, looks like it’s on the Internet).
You can then suggest a more effective web filtering software.
2/. Let him have all the porn he wants. One day he will get all tugged out and fall asleep at his desk with his hand on his old fella. Eventually someone will walk in and wake him up (maybe a client). He will then re-think his strategy for self-satisfaction.

Play the game

In reply to CEO surfs porn

If you have any desire to move up the ranks, then play the game. One of the most important facets of office politics is knowing how to pick your battles, and when to fight them. Let’s say your CEO left the company on bad terms. Do you want to be the one that looked like you booted him out? Chances are, there are lots of others in his group that wouldn’t care for you knowing what happened. A good player also let’s others fight the battle. You’re CIO is aware of the situation, so your ass is covered. Let the CIO go to the mattresses with him….that’s why they pay him the big bucks. On that last note….how do you think the CIO got to where he is?

Caching Proxy and Proxy filtering

In reply to CEO surfs porn

Just have a black list setup and keep an eye on what he is surfing.

Keep in mind: If the CEO can get through your security, others can as well.

You did your job

In reply to CEO surfs porn

You did your job by reporting it to your CIO. It’s now in his hands. You’re in a tight spot – but given the tight IT job market, what else can you do?

I had to deal with a similar issue with a VP who we allowed full access to the internet because of the blocks he was getting when doing research. Within a day, he was surfing porno websites that had bestiality and amongst other things, borderline kiddie porn.

So I told my boss who went to his boss. They OK’ed my suggestion to make a forensic image of his hard drive late one night to preserve the data. They reviewed the dump of his IE temp cache, logs, etc. Company attorney felt he wasn’t violating any laws (guess it’s legal to look at 8 yr old Asian girls wearing bikini’s made for 5 yr olds and laying in suggestive poses). And it pretty much died right there and we were told to limit his web access and keep an eye on things. It hasn’t been a problem since then – but needless-to-say this VP no longer acknowledges me, or even dares to make eye-contact with me. Pervert. I’m tempted to make an anonymous phone call to the police… if he’s ballsy enough to do this sorta thing at work knowing that we’re watching, I can only imagine what’s on his PC at home.

Agree

In reply to You did your job

You did your job, and may pay a price for it. No point in pushing it.

Warning letter

In reply to CEO surfs porn

My ex-ceo also does porno surfing, signing up “FREE SCREENER” etc… the worst is he download porno site passwords is ciculated in office…my god……. He even accused me(IT admin) i did’t maintain the mail server properly as he receive spam in mailbox….goosh………

I suggest give him a copy of warning letter CC to Managing Director & block his internet access over lan.

[Author]

Replies