Before being reprimanded for viewing pornography at work, Richard (not his real name) was a rising star at a Fortune 100 company. His immediate supervisors and the CEO for whom he worked were highly satisfied with his work.

One day, when Richard was coming down with the flu, he decided to stay at work and cover the telephones. Too sick to work, he decided to surf the Internet. When an X-rated site popped up during a search, Richard curiously opened it. Before he knew it, he had clicked through several pornographic sites. His career at the company was doomed.

“I noticed, when I clicked on the next page, some kind of unexpected information showed up in the URL,” says Richard. “It came to me that some kind of internal system had caught me viewing a pornographic Web site; I disconnected as quickly as possible.”

It was too late. Two weeks later, Richard's supervisor called him into a conference room and dropped a sheaf of printouts onto the table. Richard immediately recognized them as lists of URLs he had visited. He owned up to viewing the sites and agreed to sign an admittance of guilt and a letter of reprimand to keep his job.

“I have never been so professionally and personally embarrassed in my life,” says Richard. “I found it hard to look anyone in the eye for weeks, and I couldn't find a new job soon enough.” When Richard's annual review came up a few months later, his supervisors marked him low in virtually every category even though the CEO, who knew nothing of the incident, gave Richard rave reviews.

Like Richard, many of us log onto the Internet as easily as we pick up the telephone. But logging on for personal use at work, even for seemingly innocent activities, could get you into big trouble.

Stealing Time

“Most of us are watching out for ourselves and put ourselves first,” says Michael Foster, founder of Foster Success Strategies, a Dallas technology consultancy specializing in managing high tech employees and preventing Internet misuse. “We're at work and we think, 'Gee, I need to check my email,' not, 'I need to steal some time away from my employer.'”

But some companies are beginning to look at it that way. A recent survey by Websense Inc., an employee Internet management company in San Diego, California, found that more than 60 percent of American businesses have disciplined their employees for misusing the Internet; more than 30 percent have fired workers for it.

Surf with Caution

Consider the following points before logging on at work:

Check Your Company's Policy.
Internet access policies (IAPs) are becoming increasingly common. According to the Websense survey, 82.6 percent of US companies have IAPs outlining appropriate and inappropriate Internet use at work. They may state you cannot send or receive personal emails through your work address, or they may confine personal surfing to lunchtime and breaks. Make sure you understand the parameters of your company's IAP. Keep in mind there are two types of online activity: surfing and emailing. Many companies are getting tough on personal emails, because they don't want the company name associated with any questionable material.

Consider the Culture.
If your company doesn't have a formal IAP, don't assume it's a free-for-all. Ask your manager for some basic guidelines. If you don't get any clear answers, consider the corporate culture. If you work for a dotcom, chances are you'll have some leeway. If, however, your company is more traditional, the policy will likely be stricter.

“Every company is different,” says Kimberly Young, PhD, founder of the Center for Online Addiction in Bradford, Pennsylvania, a treatment clinic and training center specializing in cyber-disorders. “There are open corporate cultures that don't even have policies. Then there are the more traditional, Old Economy firms that have upgraded to the digital economy and are trying to put parameters around employee Internet use, and nothing is tolerated. Sending one personal email can be fireable.”

Practice Common Sense.
Regardless of your company's policy, it's wise to consider the ramifications of where and how you spend your time online. Your conduct online and language in emails should always remain professional. “[People] should avoid pretty much anything they wouldn't want to print out and hang up on their cubicle walls,” says Foster.

Richard admits he should have considered these points before going online that day. Although he found another job and is happy with his new company, he still regrets the incident.

“Anyone who surfs porn sites at work is crazy,” Richard says. “I felt like an idiot when my supervisor laid a stack of papers listing the sites I had looked at on the table. My advice is to never, ever do it.”