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Ask HN: My client want an agent on my laptop. Is this the new normal?

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Re: Ask HN: My client want an agent on my laptop. Is this the new normal?

#491

Post by Siira »

ArchOversight wrote: post #391
xnyan wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mini-rant: people on hacker news frequently undervalue their knowledge and don't consider the things they know to be of much worth. A classic example of this is the "I can't see why dropbox is a thing, simply build a cloud file sync service - easy" post. This poster is running their own semi-professional router (pfsense) on whitebox hardware. I would not want to do that unless I already knew what I was doing or wante…

I very much agree with this. I don't think that this is the solution for most home users/consultants working from home. The more obvious solution would be to get a separate WiFi router and internet connection strictly for work purposes. At that point you could also consider it a 100% home office expense and it may be tax deductible (talk to your accountant).

Can one use two internet connections from a single phone line?

Re: Ask HN: My client want an agent on my laptop. Is this the new normal?

#492

Post by solnyshok »

nix23 wrote: post #149
RileyJames wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d like to say no, but I’m not sure it’s an unreasonable request. I’ve recently been contracting and the only private account I used was GitHub, and that was a conscious decision to maintain a single public developer identity. Otherwise, I expected them to provide all hardware and software required to perform my role. And likewise, for security purposes, that’s exactly what they wanted as well. Tho I would note, the…

Why not make a Virtual Desktop for your Developers instead of ~forcing them to install crap-ware.

why not spin up a VM dedicated to that client and confine all crapware to that VM?

Re: Ask HN: My client want an agent on my laptop. Is this the new normal?

#493

Post by ioman »

At a previous employer they wanted me to install some work software on my iPhone. Nothing particularly invasive as far as I could tell, just Okta, gmail, etc. I told them up front that it violated my personal security policy to install any work software on my personal devices. I told them this was for their protection as much as my own. This brought my boss up short and he wondered aloud why this wasn’t already company policy. Fast forward two months and it became company policy. So it’s my fault that everyone that needs to use company software on their phone has to carry a separate company phone.

Re: Ask HN: My client want an agent on my laptop. Is this the new normal?

#494

Post by ArchOversight »

neverartful wrote: post #410
ArchOversight wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what I do for a variety of different things: - $CORP devices are on a VLAN + Wifi that has access to the internet, but no other internal networks - Internal network for file servers/printers and the like - Personal device network, think laptops/phones/tablets that are mine, can reach internal network - IoT network - Think sensors/robot vacuums/"smart devices" - Guest network, for well visitors to my home - Ai…

Which TP-Link switch do you use?

I use the Omada SDN business line-up.

Re: Ask HN: My client want an agent on my laptop. Is this the new normal?

#495

Post by ArchOversight »

Siira wrote: post #491
ArchOversight wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I very much agree with this. I don't think that this is the solution for most home users/consultants working from home. The more obvious solution would be to get a separate WiFi router and internet connection strictly for work purposes. At that point you could also consider it a 100% home office expense and it may be tax deductible (talk to your accountant).

Can one use two internet connections from a single phone line?

Yes.

Re: Ask HN: My client want an agent on my laptop. Is this the new normal?

#496

Post by jjav »

speedgoose wrote: post #473
jjav wrote: post #466

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I couldn't trust my company on my home network, why would I work for them? Your employer isn't your friend. It might be an awesome company to work for perhaps, but it's still a company (unless you work for like a 2 person startup). A company subject to audits and regulations and all kinds of other pressures (some of them actually valid, though many are theater) to monitor and control data and flows on their hard…

Yes my company monitors the network at work and on my work computer, as they must do so. But they are not allowed to scan my home network and other devices, and they have no reason to break the law. I trust them to not do that more than half of the devices running on my home network.

Many of these technologies have been built in the assumption of a world where they run in the company LAN.

No reason to trust, better to isolate.

Re: Ask HN: My client want an agent on my laptop. Is this the new normal?

#497

Post by nix23 »

Stranger43 wrote: post #341
nix23 wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can pay 7500$/y for spyware you can surely pay for a VDI-Product.

The problem is rarely the monetary costs alone it's more about the need for handling an one-off situation that require special policies, and becomes an special item on the budget. For large companies supplying VDI to consultants tend to be an standardized package that gets billed back to whatever project is hiring the consultants but for mid-sized organisation VDI is a big scary word that's going to require special h…

I am not interested in politics or humans when the problem is a technical one, i understand you but that's my stand ;)

Re: Ask HN: My client want an agent on my laptop. Is this the new normal?

#498

Post by nix23 »

solnyshok wrote: post #492
nix23 wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not make a Virtual Desktop for your Developers instead of ~forcing them to install crap-ware.

why not spin up a VM dedicated to that client and confine all crapware to that VM?

Absolutely!

Re: Ask HN: My client want an agent on my laptop. Is this the new normal?

#499

Post by Meph504 »

At this point, I've gotten to the point where each client I deal with, has their own vm. This insures no commingling of data between clients, and my personal use and the clients.

In that regard, its easy for me to put an agent on their vm, I do run pi-hole so it doesn't matter what VM I'm in, most of this sort traffic gets filtered.

I would also recommend reviewing the contract you have with them, to see if it allows them to put these sort of measures on you. And personally determine if this contract is worth keeping, a company wishing to push something like this, with that rigid a response, doesn't sound like someone you would want to maintain a relationship with.

But either way, it seems like this is something that could be resolved without much effort.

Re: Ask HN: My client want an agent on my laptop. Is this the new normal?

#500

Post by citizenpaul »

marcosdumay wrote: post #398
citizenpaul wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also as a freelancer you may end up with a farm of a dozen single purpose laptops....

All rented out? Seems like an easy win on the PaaS market (and make enough profit on them). Just remember to put some customized adhesives telling what laptop is rented to what customer.

Sure but I think most corporate spyware prevents things like mining software, cause get real thats all it will be rented for.
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