Personal laptop on work access point wifi - secure/private if not D/Ling or not?

[chad]

Hi,

I have a question more suited to someone very familiar with work networks and security of. I have a work laptop and a personal laptop, and they can connect to the work connection access point on wifi.
I was slacking off a bit, watching saved 30-Rock re-runs on VLC at work on work time, on a day I had the place to myself. I did not surf the net, look up anything or download a thing. But I inadvertently had the laptop wifi aerial turned on so I was 'connected' to the wifi.
So can the network admin/IT department see what I was doing on this day, i.e. watching 30-Rock re-runs for several hours with my feet up? We have a strict usage policy so I am freaking out a bit. They sacked a guy for using his work laptop for similar stuff.

I never do this on the work laptop but as it is my personal laptop, with Bitdefender firewall on a "Work" access point that often allows more file sharing, do they know or can they tell what my personal laptop was doing? I know VLC is pretty good at not connecting to the net, and I have "Allow Metadata Network Access" turned off anyway but could they see vlc running '30-Rock S05E04" etc etc for example?

It's not a simple issue as the net wasn't used, I was just 'connected'. 

With no surfing, no web browser even opened and nothing intentionally downloaded can they tell "someone" had a full day slacking off?

[DaveLembke]

So can the network admin/IT department see what I was doing on this day, i.e. watching 30-Rock re-runs for several hours with my feet up? We have a strict usage policy so I am freaking out a bit. They sacked a guy for using his work laptop for similar stuff. With no surfing, no web browser even opened and nothing intentionally downloaded can they tell "someone" had a full day slacking off?

If you value your job, I would leave your personal laptop at home and do your job.... we all have some time to take it easy at work... as long as everything is done that needs to get done its fair pay for a fair days work. Perhaps if you have lots of extra time on your hands and want to make more money you can prove to your employer that your management material etc. And instead of wasting away time with paranoia of getting caught and losing your job, you can better your career. For the fact that they got rid of a guy under a similar violation, its playing with fire to not be doing your job or if you have a job that requires you to wait around for a customer etc to be using a device to watch a show etc.

Now for the answers to your questions. VLC has the ability to run out to the web and get information on what your watching, additionally VLC also checks for updates to the player. If they have a program running that tracks packets and logs them, they can see the activity. The MAC address would be foreign and so unless you used personal laptop for anything online that points it back to you or the MAC address is known to be your personal laptop because they set you up with the wifi access and maybe they took down info to know that the MAC address ties back to you, they probably dont know who was online.

If you value your job, I would avoid doing stuff that could get you fired! And a suggestion is to try to prove yourself to employer that your not a slacker and your a go getter in which you can get promoted and make more money. Not all jobs have a ladder that is easy to climb but its my best suggestion.

I had a job once where my job was repetitious and boring. I could have slacked off once my job was done, but instead I walked over to another department and chatted with a woman there and then started helping her do her job. What became of this was that I was over there helping her fix electronics and the boss came out with me in schematics pointing out to her the issue and using an oscilloscope to trace down a problem. I pin pointed the problem and pointed it out to the woman. I didnt know that my boss was behind us looking over the cubical. When i heard his voice asking what i was doing, I was like... ok im caught!... and i kind of had the hairs on my back stand on end. He asked me why i was over here. I said I got my job done in testing and decided to help out in the service department. He grinned and said so you know your way around electronics I see. I said yes with a smile. He then said, I dont recall you having an electronics degree. I said I dont have one. I said I am self taught. Worked my way up from a battery light bulb and wire when 5 years old to radio shack kits around age 10, and then more complicated kits as a teenager, and then reading books on it and understanding it all for analog and digital electronics. He was impressed and I was promoted right then and there. So me taking the initiative to wander off into the other department got me a promotion and $5 an hour raise making 50% more money from what i was making prior. I worked then for 4 years in the service department fixing automation controls for Allen-Bradley/ Rockwell Automation until laid off in 2001.