Re: During my time in front line IT support I've seen things
There was a brief surge of related incidents at my workplace shortly after the internet was introduced on client PCs. Not many employees had home internet so it was common to stay at the workplace a little later to do this new thing called "surfing the net". Some were pretty reckless with their times and types of browsing and word began to travel... eventually reaching upper management.
That was when I was instructed to monitor and report on internet usage on company equipment. As a result of this program two people lost their positions and one more was demoted. Monitoring was then expanded to company email and phone, which resulted in three more persons losing their positions.
At the time, employees could be punished equally severely for browsing porn, extra-marital affairs as they were for industrial espionage. One of the most unpleasant experiences of my working life and a hard lesson for everyone involved.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
