Network Admin people - Am I Invisible?

[r04DiE]

Roadie...just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

I know. I'm baaaaaad.

 

[r04DiE]

Your actions will not be seen except when you network the machine - in which case competent Sys Admins would notice the traffic

And what traffic would they notice, just out of interest? What is going to differentiate my traffic from that of others?

 

[r04DiE]

And also, all you lot have told me how naughty I am, but not if I'm invisible. Am I invisible? Am I a white hat hacker? Will they make a film about me one day?

 

[Milkfloat]

And what traffic would they notice, just out of interest? What is going to differentiate my traffic from that of others?

The IP address of your VPN would be the red flag. They would be wondering why you are using a VPN. They might then start looking at why your MAC address is not using the OS that they configured on the machine. After that - it is rubber glove time (if they can find you).

 

[r04DiE]

The IP address of your VPN would be the red flag.

That's what I thought, that it would be IP over traffic that flagged it up.

They would be wondering why you are using a VPN. They might then start looking at why your MAC address is not using the OS that they configured on the machine.

And how would they know the original MAC of the machine, if they didn't know the IP address?[/QUOTE]

After that - it is rubber glove time (if they can find you).

Eek!
And thinking about it, I use a VPN on my phone all of the time I'm on the work network, and there has been no trouble so far.

 

[FishFright]

I think what you're doing is a creative way of saying goodbye to the university

 

[Milkfloat]

That's what I thought, that it would be IP over traffic that flagged it up.And how would they know the original MAC of the machine, if they didn't know the IP address?

Eek!
And thinking about it, I use a VPN on my phone all of the time I'm on the work network, and there has been no trouble so far.[/QUOTE]

If they have the MAC registered of your hardware (assuming it is a university machine) then they would spot that it is not running the required OS. This should raise a flag - as in someone has messed with our machine. The IP address of your machine is somewhat irrelevant assuming you are using the University DHCP address to get an IP. If you have manually set your own IP then you could cause a conflict.

The VPN on your phone is also slightly irrelevant - they will recognise that it is a phone and also that it is not their hardware.

Of course all this assumes that they care and look. I would image most of them are running around clearing paper jams in printers, download porn and wondering who has been shoving drawing pins in their network cables.

Personally - I would not be using work equipment like this, but the chances of being caught are pretty slim.

 

[LCpl Boiled Egg]

And thinking about it, I use a VPN on my phone all of the time I'm on the work network, and there has been no trouble so far.

You wouldn't be able to use a VPN on our network, they are blocked unless there are valid reasons to have them, and they are tightly controlled. It doesn't matter that your phone isn't their hardware, you're still using their network connection and they shouldn't let you do so as it affects legitimate users of their systems. If you can already then your IT department either don't care what you do, or don't have the skills/resources to stop you.

Oh, and if you can download porn then your IT department really isn't doing their job properly. Sorry @Milkfloat

 

[KneesUp]

I have a laptop with a i5 processor and plenty of RAM, it only cost me £200 reconditioned and I can (and do) run whatever OS I like on it. Just a thought,

Although another perspective is that I use my work laptop for everything and have set it up to dual boot and have several virtual machines. The IT chap knows all about it, and doesn't mind at all. That is the benefit of being self-employed. I am the IT department

 

[Milkfloat]

Oh, and if you can download porn then your IT department really isn't doing their job properly. Sorry @Milkfloat

Just because you cannot download Porn, does not mean that the Sys Admins are not!

 

[LCpl Boiled Egg]

Just because you cannot download Porn, does not mean that the Sys Admins are not!

How about, "If anyone can download porn then your IT department really isn't doing their job properly."?

The days of IT doing whatever they please and having unlimited access to everything and anything including things on the internet are (thankfully) in the past. Internet use by staff on work machines (in work time or on breaks) should be filtered and inappropriate use flagged for further investigation. Especially in an educational establishment such as those mentioned in this thread.

 

[KneesUp]

Remembers the new staff member who loaded porn sites on 6 training machines simultaneously whilst at work, not realising that it would trigger enough alerts to wear a hole in the screen in the IT department, and shudders.

 

[HorTs]

If they notice abnormal traffic/network behaviour and if they have managed switches then they could track you in seconds.

 

[KneesUp]

Am I correct in thinking that

If the OP uses his USB Linux distro actually at work, the SysAdmin should notice that a VPN is being used and investigate (but presumably students can bring in their own laptops and connect to the network too and there is no control on what they run - so they'd have to tie up the MAC address of the machine to it using a VPN to realise it was one of theirs doing it - presumably this is automated in most systems?) I'd guess to that staff and students have different networks to connect to, so to minimise suspicion the OP would be best connecting to the 'student' one.

If the OP uses his machine with the USB drive on another network (i.e. at home or when on holiday) the IT dept will not have any way of knowing because none of their software (which may log connections or report them) will be running.

Is that about right?

 

[Tin Pot]

I love the way people worry so much about legitimate authorities seeing what they are doing, which is always "not naughty", and yet so little about illegitimate actors seeing what they are doing.