Question about shared network drive at work

[Buggsthecat]

I found a file on my company shared drive that is of questionable content and could have negative implications to a coworker. Is there anyway my IT department can track the activity of this file? I've opened it several times but don't want to be involved in the situation. I would like to delete the file, but not sure how that would impact me.

 

[Alvin.C]

Hi,

That depends. A good IT department should have some kind of audit trail in place. They might be able to track and determine who created the file in question, who has accessed it, and under which user account(s) or from which workstation(s).

It would not be wise to delete or edit the file yourself, especially if it is audited, as your actions may be deemed suspicious.

Depending on the severity and nature of this issue, and your moral obligation, you might consider confronting and talking to the co-worker who created the file (if you know who it is) to try and resolve the issue yourself if it's only a relatively small matter. Otherwise, if it is a more serious and sensitive matter, it would probably be best to raise the issue with a superior, and let them deal with it.

 

[Bruce]

Musta been good if ya opened it a few times hehehe

 

[Lexluethar]

Since you don't know how your IT department is setup (as alvin said audit policies or you may not even have permissions to delete the file) the best method would be to let the IT department or the employee know.

 

[Strikr]

When something is questionable, any smart answer would be talking to your boss about it. That is what they are there for.

We are not your boss.

 

[mikesgroovin]

When something is questionable, any smart answer would be talking to your boss about it. That is what they are there for.

We are not your boss.

The OP is just trying to get technical related help, thats it... it was just a question.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Still, I'm curious as to why you would've opened it several times. I'm an IT admin, and that DOES seem suspicious to me.

 

[Peresviet]

Playing devil's advocate for a minute...just make sure you can't get done for 'finding this file'.

 

[mikesgroovin]

LOL, you guys are funny... Bring your skills into TF... thats it. We are Anonymous here. So the dude opened it numerous times... Honestly, I've had over 40 IT Sys Admins under my management at one time over the years and a constant problem is pointing fingers and derailing the problem or project or just asking silly questions. This is the latter

 

[S0ULphIRE]

well I'm just thinking wtf, if this file is obviously dodgy then why the **** would you go back and keep opening it? Maybe I'd check a second time just to be SURE that what I saw was what I saw, but more than that? There's no good reason.

On topic: Just tell the IT Dept. Someone found a pr0n stash on one of the servers, unfortunately for the owner they'd kept it in their personal folder...lol