In alt.internet.wireless Bill Kearney <wkearney99@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > I work for a snooping kind of company where I would not put it past
> > them to watch what I do on my personal home computer if they could.

> Get a different job. Deprive them of a good employee by going elsewhere.

Sometimes there are just one or two individuals who think it is their job
to snoop as hard as they can. Sometimes it's a management philosophy.

> Generally no. Most VPN connections are designed so that ONLY the connecting
> computer is attached to the remote network. Otherwise they'd be opening up

The OP can test that... open a shared volume from laptop to desktop, or
start a "ping -t" in both directions, then log on to the Nortel VPN.
The local connection should break, and not be available to restart.

> No. But if you're running XP on the other computer simply enable the
> firewall. You'll see any notifications about connection attempts.

And be quite surprised at all the trash floating around, different servers
and services trying to connect...

I see attempts from MSSQL servers and clients, vulnerability checks for
various weaknesses, maybe from the good guys, maybe from bad guys, backup
software, stuff I haven't bothered to track down...

Have a look at the exceptions list on the work machine's XP firewall...
There might be snoopy software installed and allowed.
I have seen installations where a private copy of VNCserver is installed
and running, so support can access your system for troubleshooting... of
course they can also watch anything you are doing, with your desktop
visible to them as if they were sitting in your chair.

> > Does VPN compromise my home security or is my home PC activity still
> > secure?

> No more or less secure that without the VPN connection.

True of the VPN. If the laptop is allowed to connect to the local network
without the VPN turned on, then the local computer might be subject to some
unwanted examination. If you are concerned about corporate snooping of
your home PC, the laptop should never be connected to your home network.
You can't get a VPN connection without connecting to the local network
first, so there will be exposure, unless, as someone else noted, you move
to a DMZ of some sort.

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Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5