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Here's my case, I have a laptop from work, it has Cisco AnyConnect.

3 scenarios:

  • Laptop using home network, from home PC I can remote desktop to Laptop just fine.
  • Laptop using home network, enable Cisco AnyConnect VPN to connect to company network, ok as well.
  • Now, from laptop, enable Cisco AnyConnect VPN to company network, then from home PC remote desktop to Laptop, that won't work.

Is there a way to make Case 3 to work so that I can enjoy comforts of dual 24" screen + full size keyboard and mouse?

1 Answer 1

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Based on the phrasing of your question, I'm going to make a couple assumptions and compose the rest of my answer from there.


Assumptions:

  1. Your desktop is personally-owned equipment.
  2. You do not have VPN software installed on your desktop, and it very well may be a violation of your company's security policy to do so (due to Assumption 1).
  3. Your laptop is company-owned equipment, and it would likely be a violation of your company's security policy for you to install or modify any software on it.

Short Answer:

There are only two options which may allow you to use your luxurious desktop peripherals for your teleworking activities:

  1. Hook the peripherals directly up to your laptop, or to its docking station. (This may require some USB video adapters and/or a powered USB hub, if your laptop and/or docking station does not have enough of the appropriate ports.)
  2. If your corporate policy allows, install the VPN software on your desktop and work directly from there.

Long Answer:

It seems that your company has configured the VPN software to prohibit "split tunneling". What that means is, so long as your laptop is connected to the corporate VPN, all of your laptop's network traffic is routed through the company's network regardless of its actual origin or destination. Even when you surf the Internet to sites outside of the company network, while on the VPN, everything is going through the company's firewalls, routers, and switches first. (Bear in mind that this also means everything you do on the VPN is likely being monitored.) Likewise, any device that wants to connect to your laptop must first be able to establish a connection to the internal corporate network.

Essentially, once you've conected the laptop to the corporate VPN, it's exactly as if you had just taken it back to your office and plugged it into a network jack there. All of the firewall rules that affect you in your office (and perhaps some more) also apply when you're connected to the VPN.

It may be possible to remote from your laptop to your desktop while you're on the VPN, provided the company's perimeter firewalls allow such outbound traffic, by changing some settings on your home router/firewall. However, since you cannot modify the company's firewall, (and getting traffic into the corporate network is usually harder than getting it out) the reverse is not so simple.

Some third-party remote desktop solutions bypass this by tunneling their traffic within ports and services which are normally allowed through company firewalls, like 80/HTTP & 443/HTTPS. Others go a step further and use an internet-based proxy host so that all traffic (from both the client and server) appears "outbound", and is therefore more likely to be permitted, when going through a firewall. However, such services would require installing and/or running third-party software on your company's laptop and this is most likely in violation of your company's policy.

Again, do bear in mind that all network traffic to and from your laptop is probably being monitored while you're connected to the VPN. So, any attempts to subvert restrictions on that network may be noticed by your company's IT Security team and could result in punitive action against you. Even while you are not on the VPN, if you are still using the company laptop, there are ways your company may still monitor you.

I've said this many times before, but it always bears repeating: Keep company business on corporate hardware, and personal business off it.

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