Quick Links
Ever worked from home and wondered if your company can see where you’re working from? I recently took a trip around Mexico, but before heading south, I wanted to figure out just what my company could see—and if they could tell I was working from a beach instead of my office.
Tracking IP Address When Logging Into the Network
Any company with an IT department captures every IP address that logs into its network. YourIP address is linked to your location, and while it isn’t definitive, it can show the general area you’re connecting from. Any major corporation will track IP addresses, especially those that handle sensitive information.
Smaller companies may have programs in place to check where users are logging in from, but may not have the cybersecurity hygiene to specifically check each IP address.
Now, if you want to hide your public IP address when you’re anywhere, you need to use a VPN. A VPN masks your IP address and makes it appear as if it is coming from the VPN company’s servers. If you’re not meant to be abroad, you may make your IP address appear as if it is coming from your home country; the USA typically has numerous VPN servers spread across the country, so you may even find one in your home city (or at least, home state).
However, if you go down this route, check the VPN works before channeling your inner digital nomad;some VPN services are better than others. You don’t want to be caught out when you’re already on the beach!
IP Address Tracking in Zoom, MS Teams, and More
I could get away with not connecting to the company network, but logging into Zoom meetings was a must. While most Zoom admins might not care where meeting participants are logging in from, a suspicious admin who wants to ensure participants are working from home might.
Zoom administrators can easily view the public IP addresses of every user who logs into a meeting. Accessing this information is as easy as heading over to the dashboard and finding the IP Usage link.
It’s a similar situation for other collaborative workplace tools like Microsoft Teams. The network administrator can see your IP address when you connect to your company MS Teams.
Employee Monitoring Programs
Unbeknownst to you, there are probably a number of programs running in the background collecting a whole sea of data. If you’re using a work laptop, I can almost guarantee you have this software lurking behind the scenes, collecting things like computer usage, productivity, and, of course, your location.
There are a couple of pieces of data being collected that could alert your boss that something is askew. Things like browsing history, email content, keystrokes, screen recordings, time spent on specific tasks, and location may all signal that you’re not where you should be doing what you should be doing. Even if your company isn’t thrown off when you appear to access the network in the city in which you reside in before magically popping up in Mexico, they may become suspicious when they pair the fact that you seem relatively inactive with your recent queries on the best restaurant to visit in Cancun.
To see if your company uses these programs, you may consider opening and searching for popular employee monitoring software likeHubstafforActivTrakin Task Manager or Activity Monitor.
Reading Your Messages
Loose lips sink ships. You can take all the precautions in the world, but if your co-workers out you in Slack or Teams it’s all for naught. If you intend on getting out of town without your company’s permission, it’s best to tell as few as people as possible. Even if you’re chatting via direct message, admins can still access these messages.
In addition to not telling anyone in the office, it’s best to avoid posting on socials. I know this might be hard, but if you want to have a job when you get back from your work-from-home vacation, it’s best to refrain from posting any selfies of you in a bathing suit.
Mobile Device Management
Your company probably has thousands of devices in its arsenal. With the rise of remote work, chances are they’re relying on mobile device management (MDM) to keep track of all these devices. To inventory, manage, and protect these devices, your company is probably using MDM.
Your IT administrator may receive an alert when a company asset pings in from a suspicious zone. If the company has no business in Mexico, but your device happens to be located 2,000 miles away from the office, it may be flagged as stolen and locked down.
There Are Palm Trees in the Background
My manager will notice something’s off if I live in Connecticut but have palm trees in the background of my Zoom call. Before turning on your camera be sure to blur or use a virtual background. Your company may not need to use fancy tools to figure out you’re working from abroad. Don’t let your Zoom background or clothing choice give you away.
