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Last post Author Topic: Company audited my computer. Found many "unauthorized" software. Lol.  (Read 15411 times)

superboyac

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So, my company audited computers here.  As expected, they found over 20 unauthorized software on my computer.  Everything is freeware, except for a couple of personal license things.  Mouser, I hate to say, but you're responsible for at least 3 of them!  Crazy...I don't know how I'm going to live without FARR and LBC.  The annoying thing is that they don't buy this stuff for me, or they deny me if I ask for it.  And they give retarded reasons why they can't.
--"We don't know if this software is compatible with your machine.  We can't offer maintenance on all this software."  yeah, right.  FARR is going to be the death of my machine.  Like I'll be going to them to have them fix problems I'm having with FARR.  Get the F out of here.

Anyway, it's a little funny.  Why they give me a hard time when I'm trying to be faster and more productive, I have no idea.

mouser

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:(
any way we can get help you get them "authorized" ?

rgdot

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And there are places where Firefox is not even allowed, companies lol

superboyac

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And there are places where Firefox is not even allowed, companies lol
Whew!  I just checked, they didn't flag it.  I hate IE.

superboyac

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:(
any way we can get help you get them "authorized" ?
Perhaps I can give you the email of the guy in charge, and you can write him some mumbo jumbo about the program being comaptible with everything and there shouldn't be any problems.  Also, that you are fine with me using it in a corporate environment.  And that is a very useful productivity tool.  And then add that you are personally happy with my use of it so far.

you up for something like that?  (Thanks)

argv

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change the company

mouser

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you up for something like that?

sure.

however my limited experience with companies tells me they won't approve it unless i charge them a very high fee for a corporate site license.  that seems to be the main way they know it's legitimate software  :D

and so i will include a bill for $10,000.

MilesAhead

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And there are places where Firefox is not even allowed, companies lol

That's like if you call your ISP to tell them your connection is unstable.  They ask you, "Are you running any 3rd party software?"  to which the only valid reply is, "No, I sit in front of the machine and wait for the screensaver, which came preinstalled, to kick in."

(You could check the oil in your car before going on a long trip.  But, if you pop the hood your warranty is void. )

superboyac

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you up for something like that?

sure.

however my limited experience with companies tells me they won't approve it unless i charge them a very high fee for a corporate site license.  that seems to be the main way they know it's legitimate software  :D

and so i will include a bill for $10,000.
haha...I have no problem with that.  i hope they pay!  heck, if people cared enough, they would all be more productive.  But they usually roll their eyes when i show them how cool this software is.

nosh

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lol! Reminded me of those guys from Office Space who were in charge of the layoffs.

superboyac

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lol! Reminded me of those guys from Office Space who were in charge of the layoffs.
'Cept those guys were cool.  My company's guys throw the book at you whenever you ask for "fancy' stuff.  And the only reason for it is because they don't want to do any extra work.  They keep saying that if there are problems due to the software, they don't have enough people/time to take care of it.  Whatever.

I liked my previous company.  Whenever I needed something, i'd ask, and they would get it right away.  They trusted my instincts on this stuff.  They would get anything for me, it was great.  Even my management supports me here, it's just the IT guys that give me a hard time, for no reason.  Everyone knows I'm doing this for the benefit of the company, i just don't see what interest they have in making me slower.

MilesAhead

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lol! Reminded me of those guys from Office Space who were in charge of the layoffs.

One of my favorite flicks.  Doing nothing has been my ambition since I can remember. :)

rgdot

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Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler

40hz

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you up for something like that?

sure.

however my limited experience with companies tells me they won't approve it unless i charge them a very high fee for a corporate site license.  that seems to be the main way they know it's legitimate software  :D

and so i will include a bill for $10,000.

Mouser! This is large, hulking, no-brain corporate IT you're gonna talk to.

Stop thinking so small. 8)

Make it at least $50K for the initial license plus $7K for annual maintenance and upgrades. Play your cards right and they might even cough up an additional $10K for 'training' and 'support' tokens.

(Don't laugh. I've seen some of the Big Boys go for deals as ridiculous just to get the issue off their desks. They were going on vacation the following week and wanted it 'done' before they left.  ;) )

pricelinescreenshot.190.jpg

"Now you're negotiating!"

MilesAhead

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Excuse me, I believe you have my stapler

What you tttt-talkin' about?  That's mmm-mmm-mmm my stapler!!

Wish they'd keep sendin' me the paycheck after I was fired though.
Some people have all the luck. :)

mouser

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I'll have them fly me out first class to personally install it on each pc, since end users cannot be trusted to run the setup program themselves.

rgdot

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mouser, patent the DcUpdater

superboyac

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I'll have them fly me out first class to personally install it on each pc, since end users cannot be trusted to run the setup program themselves.
That would be awesome!

MilesAhead

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I'll have them fly me out first class to personally install it on each pc, since end users cannot be trusted to run the setup program themselves.

And of course a consultant must be present on-site.  When a user wishes to invoke the program, he hits a pager and a fellow with a beret and white gloves is dispatched to hit the Pause key.

f0dder

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superboyac: the problem is, obviously, that you've forgotten to fill in your TPS report.
- carpe noctem

superboyac

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Office Space is such a great flick.

40hz

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bob-and-bob.jpg

"We personally believe Mouser is executive material."


steeladept

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Okay, I have to take the other side of this given that I (now used to) work IT in a large corp. that does these audits.  There are a plethora of reasons provided, many of which people at various levels consider stupid.  As it goes down the chain, many get left off until only the stupidest reasons or made up reasons the on-site tech could figure out are the only reasons provided.  In reality, there are MANY good reasons, and many of the apparently stupid reasons have good reasons behind them that are never explained.  At my company, these are the main reasons (NOTE:  Were applicable, this is related to U.S. laws and regulations.  YMMV):

     1)  Standardization - this makes everything easier from the technical side, from setup, through troubleshooting, to transferability and upgrading.
     2)  Repair - associated to standardization is the troubleshooting and repair of PC's.  If the problem is a software conflict with authorized software, it can be documented, tracked, and fixed.  If it is from unauthorized software, it costs a lot of time and money to track down issues that never should have occurred in the first place.***
     3)  Auditing - a company is required, many times by law (and often times by customers) and policy to know everything that is installed on each machine.  While this seems ludicrous for a company with 50,000 PC's, it never the less is a requirement.
     4)  Security - since it has not been reviewed and authorized, it is not considered secured software with the associated liability trails if the software causes a security breach.
     5)  Liability - This is perhaps the most important one as many people don't respect licenses or intellectual property.  For example MANY people in my company would download shareware that states specifically for personal use only.  They would justify that they are the only one using it, even though it was obviously not for their benefit.  Instead the company would be liable for profits gained through the use of the software as well as fines, legal fees, etc.

***Note:  In my company they actually considered charging back this associated cost to the end user if this was found to be the cause.  However, they found that to be essentially unenforceable in our current setup so charged back to the department instead.   Sometimes that worked, sometimes not so much.

There may be other good reasons as well, but these 5 just are off the top of my head.  I found the best workaround for me and our company is using portable apps.  If you use them, they can not be traced unless caught while using them, since they are not installed.  Even so, this can open the company to the liability and security issues listed above.

The right way to accomplish this is to get a hold of the head of IT and show them the software.  Give them the developer or company name and encourage them to talk so that they get what essentially amounts to a corporate or site license and add it to the image.  Many of these guys are not even true IT professionals, but rather management professionals anyway, so they are often easier to convince.  Once they see the value (especially if the cost is free), they will dictate that it should be available unless there is a technical reason for it not to (incompatibility seems to be the one noncontroversial excuse, the rest tend to be a fight over who has most control).

rgdot

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The issue with those policies and what you are saying is that at least 4, 3 and 2 are easily "broken" by browsing. Even the best filters which don't allow watching videos at work for example or block sites can't prevent the most common source of serious computer problem these days...being connected to the net.

wraith808

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The issue with those policies and what you are saying is that at least 4, 3 and 2 are easily "broken" by browsing. Even the best filters which don't allow watching videos at work for example or block sites can't prevent the most common source of serious computer problem these days...being connected to the net.


While what you say is true, the purpose is to mitigate as much risk as possible.  Some companies even go as far as limiting or preventing access to the net by people who don't have a proven business purpose for being on it.  As bad as your IT policies are, they could be worse...