Reply to: Getting around a locked down PC

[minestrone]

All I am really wanting to do is mess about with some personal code during the pre releases downtime for a couple of hours a day, not write stuxnet 2 or upload internal databases to the Iranian consulate.

Anyway, ordered a PI and I think I will go with a switch for the keyboard and mouse. Should get a limited dev environment on it.

[DaveB]

Christ I would never do this, but I am not the one asking how to circumvent a clients InfoSec

Wasn't aimed at you Simon, was to the OP and a comment in general about people trying to circumvent security. It used to be seen as a bit of a laugh in the office, these days it will get you fired.

[SimonMac]

Frankly if they are this tied down on access then plugging in any unauthorised kit, active or not, is going to get you in hot water. The commercial world is finally waking up to this stuff and actually implementing real control over their environments. It's only taken 10 years of being shouted at by people like me to do it, but they are finally getting the point that not doing it will cost them more on their bottom line in the long run.

If you don't like working in that environment, get a gig elsewhere. Otherwise learn to live with it, because it is going to become the norm. Is it worth pissing off a client that has brought you back again and again, just because it's a bit inconvienient for you.

Christ I would never do this, but I am not the one asking how to circumvent a clients InfoSec

[DaveB]

What about a KVM switch to let you use your main keyboard and mouse with both the Pi and your ClientCo machine?

Frankly if they are this tied down on access then plugging in any unauthorised kit, active or not, is going to get you in hot water. The commercial world is finally waking up to this stuff and actually implementing real control over their environments. It's only taken 10 years of being shouted at by people like me to do it, but they are finally getting the point that not doing it will cost them more on their bottom line in the long run.

If you don't like working in that environment, get a gig elsewhere. Otherwise learn to live with it, because it is going to become the norm. Is it worth pissing off a client that has brought you back again and again, just because it's a bit inconvienient for you.

[SimonMac]

I think some kind of tablet might be the solution now, they have got one over on me this time.

I had considered getting a rasberry pi and hooking that up to the second monitor but it does not have an HDMI in.


EDIT: actually never knew you could go from HDMI to VGA without a convertor, rasberry pi might be doable, if I can get a small wireless keyboard and mouse which could be hidden under a pad then I can switch my second monitor from my normal digital in to VGA.

What about a KVM switch to let you use your main keyboard and mouse with both the Pi and your ClientCo machine?

[Scrag Meister]

ClientCo has just bought in a policy whereby tech contractors are not permitted to send attachments to non ClientCo domains!!

Means I have my CV, Home Budget spreadsheet and a couple of peronal docs limbo'd on ClientCo machine/network.

Frustrating.

[d000hg]

Is the firewall sufficiently locked down that you couldn't use www.logmein.com or the like to remote to a machine at home?

Some of these tools are especially designed to work through firewalls and so on, such as https://www.copilot.com/

[BolshieBastard]

Surely any attempt to circumvent this level of lock down is going to put you in hot water with their security policy. If they put that much effort in to locking it down I cannot believe for one minute they are going to be happy with a contractor getting around it for his personal use?

+1, my thoughts exactly!

I thought the original post was going to be about a lappie the password had been lost!

[Fandango]

Is the firewall sufficiently locked down that you couldn't use www.logmein.com or the like to remote to a machine at home?

[doodab]

EDIT: actually never knew you could go from HDMI to VGA without a convertor, rasberry pi might be doable, if I can get a small wireless keyboard and mouse which could be hidden under a pad then I can switch my second monitor from my normal digital in to VGA.

I don't think you can. AFAIK the simple HDMI - VGA cables exist because some devices support digital output via the VGA connector and so can be connected to a HDMI input. Going the other way won't work unless you have a box with a DAC in it. HDMI to DVI-D is doable though.

One of my colleagues (let's call him bob) has been caught out by this recently.

[minestrone]

I think some kind of tablet might be the solution now, they have got one over on me this time.

I had considered getting a rasberry pi and hooking that up to the second monitor but it does not have an HDMI in.


EDIT: actually never knew you could go from HDMI to VGA without a convertor, rasberry pi might be doable, if I can get a small wireless keyboard and mouse which could be hidden under a pad then I can switch my second monitor from my normal digital in to VGA.

[kaiser78]

What about emailing the docs to your work email, download, edit and then email back to your personal email once complete.

[seyre1972]

Is it worth the risk ?

Client are dicks but are big dicks who have hired me a few times.

On the laptop they would pull the 'that has not been certified by out electricians and would invalidate our insurance' pish which I have seen before.

TBH - if the client has gone to all the hassle to lockdown the PC's, invariably they will have an Web/firewall audit/LOG scan review team/process in place . Certainly the case where I work, with possible infractions passed to management, justification requested.

Is the chance of doing other work, worth the risk of with you being walked off-site? Only you can decide.


cheers,


seyre

[Spacecadet]

Client are dicks but are big dicks who have hired me a few times.

On the laptop they would pull the 'that has not been certified by out electricians and would invalidate our insurance' pish which I have seen before.

Laptop's usually come with a battery, ditto for tablets and you could remote from the tablet to your home system.

I think you need to decide how far its worth pushing the client... you could always read a book/kindle instead and make notes for later use.

[SimonMac]

You tried Dropbox or any of the other cloud storage? Install the client on your machine and just let it sync back to your home machine.

If you are circumventing their system might as well go whole hog