[EnVoy]

So recently the IT dept at the large company I work at had us all set up a smb share that auto mounts at startup. This volume is completely empty except for 2 files:
1. A burn folder named "Burn Folder.fpbf" that is empty when opened.
2. A .txt file that when open reads "This share is used for MAC computers, so they can transparently authenticate with Websense."

I have Googled Websense and it is some sort of "Information Security" application. I am not an IT person so I am not familiar with it. What exactly are they doing by requiring us to keep this share mounted? I have no doubt they discretely remote monitor our computers, and I'm sure they record/track our web browsing. Is this part of that? Or is this benign?

Thanks

[Wiskedjak]

Websense is used to track and block web activity.

[olePigeon]

Websense is filtering and security software, and doesn't understand how to identify OS X clients by username. You have to manually enter credentials on OS X machines. That's why many organizations use 8e6 and not Websense because it supports a wide range of clients (Windows, OS X, and Linux.)

The lazy workaround is to have the machine authenticate "automatically" by having it mount a SMB share at startup. The better way would have been to write a shell script that opens a connection transparently in the background.

But then again, they spell it "MAC."

[andi*pandi]

Hmm, I wonder which of my mounted servers has that shared SMB file on it...

[EnVoy]

Ah, I see. Thanks for the info..