Pros and Cons of Investigative Monitoring

This is the great debate many companies have… Should they let their employees know their actions are being recorded, or perhaps is it better not to say anything at all and just conduct investigations to see if they are doing what they are supposed to, working…

Regardless of how you might think about the topic, there are pros and cons to both sides and we will take a look at the subject to hopefully shed some more light to help you better decide which way to go. We should take a moment to define what each method really means when monitoring computer and mobile activity.

Investigative Monitoring, or as some would call it “Stealth Monitoring” is a mode in which the employee monitoring software has been deployed to endpoints and it is completely hidden. InterGuard for example is hidden so well that you cannot find it by pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL and looking in the services running, it is not visible in the task bar, there is no folder that someone can search for locally (or by doing a Google Search), there is nothing listed as an installed program. Simply put, once InterGuard is installed, there is no indication the software had ever been installed?

Pros

• Monitoring without employees knowing the software has been installed allows them to let their guard down because they do not think anyone is watching
• You may conduct investigations in stealth mode to obtain evidence of any employee misconduct
• Management will have the privacy to cast a watchful eye on what employees are doing without having to deal with negative backlash
• You will quickly find out who is goofing off and staying on task
• Know when employees violate acceptable use policies

Cons

• Companies that need or want to be open to their employees might not be able to take advantage of Investigation mode because of policies
• Some members in the organization might believe that stealth monitoring is not the right way to approach monitoring computer activity

Conclusion
While there are pros and cons to stealth monitoring it ultimately depends on how your organization wants or needs to approach the situation. If you only want to use employee monitoring software for investigations, then stealth mode might be the right direction to take, but always make sure that you have support from internal team member (if that applies) before you take the next steps to deploy from an investigative standpoint.

Transparent Monitoring is a mode that is visible to anyone that has the software deployed on an endpoint they are using. With InterGuard you do not need to worry about any kind of tampering with files just because employees are aware it is installed. The only interaction they would have with InterGuard would be when they log on to their computers. At that time employees will see a pop up message that indicates their activity is being monitored (you may customize the message to your liking).

Pros

• By letting employees know their actions are being recorded, will push them in to making the right decisions (as set forth by a solid company Acceptable Use Policy) with respect to how they use computers and mobile devices.
• Productivity across the entire organization will increase because everyone will know that their activities are being logged
• Management can use the recorded activity as a teaching tool to bring every employee up to the same standards with respect to productivity and job scope
• Maintaining endpoint compliance with HR policies would be easier because everyone knows their activity is recorded
• Excellent deterrent from rouge employees trying to steal company confidential data

Cons

• Employees will be more productive, the ability to conduct stealth investigations would likely be more difficult to implement

Conclusion

If you are less concerned about conducting hidden investigations and more interested in increasing employee productivity, then Transparency mode is perfect for your company. It is also a great deterrent with respect to data theft. Think about it like this, some people will put an ADT sign in front of their house and that alone will force the overwhelming majority of burglars to move on to an easier target. Knowing that there will be some that roll the dice anyway and try to enter that house, the alarm system is there to catch them if the sign did not make them think twice. Transparency mode works the same way, you let them know every time they login, and that alone should scare them off from stealing data, but if they still want to try that, InterGuard will catch them and notify you anyway.

Regardless of the path you choose, InterGuard eliminates insider threats by providing you with the option to conduct investigations and protects company confidential data by recording/blocking all activity on PC’s and Mac’s on or off the network along with automated reports and alerts sent via email. In most businesses, human capital is your most significant cost. While PCs can increase staff productivity, they can also leave companies vulnerable to theft which can bring business to its knees. Worse than an actual insider threat is not knowing the “who, what, where and when. By recording all PC activity, both on or off network, InterGuard helps you maximize employee productivity by ensuring that your resources are focused on work. With ROI in excess of 3000%, you can stay ahead of the competition and eliminate insider threats!