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Packet Sniffers and Their Social Implications As you may be already aware of, workplace surveillance has become a widely discussed moral and ethical issue recently. The theory of monitoring workers has received both high praise and harsh criticism from virtually all members of the workforce. Recent advancements in technology have given all levels of management the ability to virtually know the whereabouts of an employee on company property at any given time. Some call it an invasion of privacy for the common worker, while others see it as a valuable tool required for effective management of a company. Workplace surveillance comes in many forms and does not require active participation from employees. You can be monitored immediately as you pick up the phone, sign on to your computer, send an email or even when you go to the bathroom. A widely discussed element of surveillance in the workplace is computer based monitoring. As the number of employees using computers has increased along with the dependence of computers, so has the need to monitor activities. The most universal (common) form of computer workplace surveillance is packet sniffing. Although the origins of packet sniffers are unknown because the name cannot