Comment by triceratops
6 hours ago
FTA
> Remember when you could text Dave from the office to turn your PC on because you were stuck in traffic?
I honestly don't. This was a thing? Why?
> So if you decide to take a "working lunch" and connect to "Starbucks_Guest_WiFi", your boss sees it instantly.
I would have a lot of fun with "creative" names for my Wi-fi network.
Seriously, this is not a thing. It doesn't even begin to make sense. It's made up.
If you work in a factory with time cards that need to be punched in, and you punch in a buddy's who is late, that's a thing -- a very risky thing if you get caught, since it's fraud.
But the idea that you'll give a coworker your password so they can boot up and log in and somehow make it look like you're online...? Not a thing. And doesn't even make sense today when you can just open your chat client on your phone anyways and be present there. We've been in an era of remote work for a long time now.
This was a thing. I worked in an office of 4 within a larger facility back when booting up took some time and we had staggered morning arrivals. The first arrival would power on everyone's computers so they were ready. If someone came in, they'd see a computer on without someone there. Where are they? I don't know, maybe in the bathroom, getting coffee, or running down an issue in another department.
Even in the pre-remote, desktops-only era it wouldn't have made any sense. Your boss, your co-workers, and everyone else was at the office. They could see you weren't at your desk. There was no need for tracking software and hence, no need to ask your buddy to log you in because you were late.
This doesn't make any sense. In any organization with a remotely capable IT, you'll still need to log in with your own account. If you give someone else your password to log in... there is a bigger problem.
It could make sense, although probably rarely these days. The question is, whether the benefit of pretending to be on time (no need to stay late to compensate, no need to explain to supervisor) outweighs the security and legal risk. It totally might.
I think they would have thought of that and are likely using MAC addresses and a lookup table tied up Active Server, etc.
Yes, MAC addresses can be spoofed, but that isn't going to be what most employees will do.
No I just meant prank names for the network.
"Huh, looks like Ted's working from 'Kiss My Ass, Stalker' again."
Exactly this. If you worry about these things, find another job. So much about MS Teams. Nothing about these toxic managers.
If you think it’s normal to call in to have someone pretend you’re there because your manager can’t forgive you some bad traffic you’re pretty far away from a healthy working relationship.