Monitoring Internet Use

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hector
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Hector

I have been asked to monitor internet use at our company.
We have DSL service and connect using a Cayman router. We
also have one server running Linux as firewall. We do not
use ISA server, is there any way to track this. I am a
bit new to this, I am trying to learn on the fly. We are
running Win 2000 on our Dell server. Also is there a way
to monitor e-mails though MS Exchange?
 
Hector wrote in
I have been asked to monitor internet use at our company.
We have DSL service and connect using a Cayman router. We
also have one server running Linux as firewall. We do not
use ISA server, is there any way to track this. I am a
bit new to this, I am trying to learn on the fly. We are
running Win 2000 on our Dell server. Also is there a way
to monitor e-mails though MS Exchange?
Click to expand...

To monitor Internet usage you have a few third party program options, the
three I am familiar with are Websense, Symantec Web Security and
SurfControl.
I hated Websense because it was just too buggy and generating reports was
painfully slow. I think SurfControl is the best product but it is very
expensive. I am running Symantec Web Security because it does what I need
it to do and doesn't break the bank. Reports generate fast and you can
customize it to your needs very easily.
You need to install any of these softwares on a server and make a group
policy to instruct your client machines to access the internet through
the proxy server. If all your running is IE then your job will be easy in
this regard. If you allow Netscape or some other browser then you have to
visit the client and configure the browser and hope the end user doesn't
change the settings back on you.
All three have trial versions if you ask, so you can try each for
yourself and decide. What I like and use may not hold true for you.

Now for e-mail monitoring all I can offer is a no cost way by creating a
group and make the user or users you want to monitor part of this group,
and then add yourself or their supervisor (if the supervisor wants to
monitor it) and then go back to these users mailboxes and assign the
group as the owner. Then you can add these mailboxes to your profile and
view at will. Again not what you may have in mind but will do in a pinch.
I would caution you to make sure you have an e-mail and Internet useage
policy written that is distributed to all employees so they know what
they can and can't do and that they sign off that they know they can and
will be monitored at the companies discretion.

Sultan
 
I have a four hub network with a Linksys gateway. With the propensity ISP's
have these days to cap service after x amount of network traffic, do you
know if Web Security can monitor ONLY the incoming/outgoing WAN traffic. I
don't need to know the totals on the intranet but I need to know when I am
getting close to the "cap" !

Thanks in advance,
 
Norman Brooks wrote in
I have a four hub network with a Linksys gateway. With the propensity
ISP's have these days to cap service after x amount of network
traffic, do you know if Web Security can monitor ONLY the
incoming/outgoing WAN traffic. I don't need to know the totals on the
intranet but I need to know when I am getting close to the "cap" !

Thanks in advance,
Click to expand...

SWS doesn't limit by bandwidth useage, you can schedule when someone can
or can't browse however and even block the ability for them to download
by extensions (.mp3, .exe etc) however.

Sultan
 
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