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My company lets us work from home sometimes using VPN (during weather emergencies and stuff). When logging in a big window comes up that says the network is private and for employees only and that there's no right to privacy while using VPN. It makes sense that they don't want people poking around their network but I wonder if the company can use the connection to look around my computer while I'm connected. I'm not entirely computer-illiterate but I'm not a networks person at all so the technical documents I've found don't help me. Is that possible, and if so to what degree?

UPDATE Thanks Mark. The funneling thing is what I was really asking about. Mostly I was worried that I would already have some IM conversation open or log into eBay forgetting that the VPN was open and that my company IT people would see it or that they would log my eBay password. Thanks again.

ANOTHER UPDATE What if my son wants to play online poker or Warcraft etcetera while I have VPN on to work? Can my company think I'm the one playing if I am not typing often?

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  • about your edit - I would be shocked if they recorded that stuff. Most IT shops will block undesired things and create logs if something is blocked, but very few waste the effort and resources to capture packets from each and every thing on the network. And even if they were, the volume would be so high that I doubt it would even be useful to them - needle in a haystack.
    – MDMarra
    Mar 5, 2010 at 3:55

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They can only access your computer as much as any other computer on your home network can. If you have C:\ shared to everyone, they could potentially see everything on it - though this is unlikely unless you have a sketchy IT department. Otherwise, you should be fine.

That warning is up because all of your traffic is funneling through their network connection. This means that if you forget to terminate your VPN session and go surfing for porn or torrents, etc - it will all be logged on the company's servers.

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    Actually, it is possible to configure a computer so that only traffic to the company LAN goes through the VPN, while Internet traffic bypasses it. However, not all VPN clients allow / support this. SonicWall SSL VPN for example does allow it.
    – sleske
    Mar 5, 2010 at 3:27
  • @sleske - this is true, Juniper uses a similar technique. If you have your DNS set to resolve hostnames on the VPN side though, your computer will still use the company DNS servers for name resolution. This would create a log of Internet browsing during the connection. Of course - if you connect via IP and don't configure your computer to use the company's internal DNS during VPN sessions this is a non-issue
    – MDMarra
    Mar 5, 2010 at 3:35
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Connecting to VPN exposes you to "risk" from the side of your internal network. But there is much greater risk of being attacked from Internet. If you don't have evil enemies-hackers in your company and don't open up all the ports for all applications in the firewall then you should be safe :).

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It depends on what you are willing to believe about this. VPNs make bodacious claims and without sophisticated equipment that you can use to interpret your readings, you will be want for an answer to this question. I've been using Ivacy solely because of their claims but how do I really know? I know this - - that on the information highway someone as sophisticated as NSA can look down the tunnel and see right into your computer, ignoring whatever "IP address" is shown (VPN selling point), link it to you in several ways, track everything you do, and they can beat any encryption you supply! There are geniuses and wizards that create this stuff, not ordinary mortal men. BUT, unless you are very smart, very advanced, and of interest to these types, few among us know more than our gut feelings about it. You normally get "what you pay for", right? So, "Free" is out coming in the door. Then, according to reports of various VPNs that I have read, a great many of the available ones actually log, etc., when they claim otherwise, they are often connected to other entities, and many expose your data, sell it, or otherwise. Use common sense. Military planes or even drones can fly above your house and see right through the roof and walls and watch what you do. Thieves can steal your CC info as you walk by! If you are not a person of interest to the FBI, CIA, TSA, or are not hacking into government, corporate, or industrial files, you have little to fear in any event. Stay clear of Torrents, child porn or any other obvious possible trap and don't be a fool. They can do pretty much what they want to you if they get a hold of you, right or wrong? Safe is good.

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