Can my employer "hear" my SKYPE phone calls

No, but if you are using work equipment for personal use then they would have every right to do so.

Then don't use work equipment.

Ivor

Your employer might be able to tell that you are using Skype. They can also tell from the network traffic which IP number you are talking with and if that IP number is in the same company , then a little detective work will find out who you were talking with. They can also tell for how long you were talking.

However they cannot listen in on the conversation as Skype calls are all encrypted.

I don't know of employers that invade privacy like this, but I'm in a country that has laws against this sort of thing. I would suspect that this kind of goes on in the big american or multinational companies as many of them have a tendency to think of the employers as workslaves that can't be trusted and should be guarded against (a BAD way to manage btw), instead of valued and trusted employees. It's a corporation mentality thing .. you work there .. what do you think they do ?

Wow Ivor - that's some attitude .. What sort of police state do you live in ?

Laws not withstanding employers have the right to take steps to prevent theft. Theft of bandwidth is no different than theft of paperclips. If this is a real concern, I would suggest the OP go to a coffee shop w/ Wifi during lunch.

One where using company equipment for personal use is not generally accepted. Would you like it if I came round to your place and used your system for my own use without asking..?

If a company provides you with computer equipment they do so in order that you can do your job, not so you can waste company time on the net.

A company is perfectly within its legal rights to monitor employees' use of company equipment. Ask a lawyer if you don't believe me.

Ivor

I don't know what country you are in, but here (UK) an employer has every right to monitor the activities of its' employees, including email and other communications.

Ivor

Considering that almost all broadband connection cost a fixed amount each month, more bandwidth use doesn't not equal more money spent.

And since there is no loss of money there can be no theft.

Thus spaketh Ivor Jones:

Seems like she wants to play away too, not nice at all.

That not an apples to apples comparison. Come up with a better analogy if you want to use this kind of reasoning.

I'd like to offer you a different point of view :

Treat your employees right and they will in turn treat you right. .. I think the bible was first on that one though .. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"

Creating a workenvironment where workers feel constantly watched and measured , untrusted and uncared for , leads to unhappy workers. Unhappy workers leads to decreased productivity , decreased service and more sickdays .. and THAT costs money.

No, it's called 'theft of service.'

Oh good. I think you are saying my SKYPE calls are protected because they use some kind of security between the two SKYPE programs.

Does that mean that even if my employer saved all the VOIP communication between the two of us, that they would not have the "security key" to actually listen to the words we spoke?

Is that what you are saying? Susan

Susan;

Fwiw, Skype has an extensive security page complete with a section for network admins. The text is pretty clear and concise.

-Craig

If you're going to talk about hiding an affair while at work don't use the same email address you use to post a job bulletin with.

Two click in Google Groups yields a lot of information and someone could decide to impose their moral code on you and give Livingston Enterprises a call.

Years ago I had two co-workers caught doing something just like this. The IT people said it was "nothing big" to monitor their machines once they noticed a lot of traffic.

Do what the terrorists do. Go to Target and buy a prepaid cell phone with cash.

He may well be saying that, but a mob in China, IIRC, recently broke the Skype encryption, so it's not secure anymore.

Also, as a BOFH and PABX tech, I have been required to track usage of both the 'net and the 'phone. The 'net is just like the 'phone, at work, you often get to use it for a limited amount of personal stuff, but not freely. If a user starts chewing up "too much" bandwidth/making "too many" or "too long" calls, I would know about it, and so would that staffers manager.

You'd be better off paying cash (untraceable) for a pre-paid mobile SIM card (untraceable), and stashing that in your desk, changing it over in your mobile when you wanted a chat.

Cheers, Gary B-)

Only if all they did was monitor the internet packets going to and from your computer. If they recorded the audio going in and out of your sound card (a trivial thing) they'd have completely understandable recordings of your calls.

If your employer is the nsa, yes, they can hear everything.

If your " long distance friend " is hezbollah, yes, the nsa can hear everything.

If you have any association whatever with radical liberal groups, yes, the nsa, homeland, interpol, cia, everybody can hear everything.

Any questions?

Kenny G.

Point taken. She did say she was an employee, not a volunteer however; so we're back to theft -- of time and wages.

LOL, this could be the funniest thing I have seen in a while. Sad but true...