Google on Wednesday is starting a new pilot program where some employees will be restricted to internet-free desktop PCs, CNBC has learned.
The company originally selected more than 2,500 employees to participate, but after receiving feedback, the company revised the pilot to allow employees to opt out, as well as opening it up to volunteers. The company will disable internet access on the select desktops, with the exception of internal web-based tools and Google -owned websites like Google Drive and Gmail. Some workers who need the internet to do their job will get exceptions, the company stated in materials.
In addition, some employees will have no root access, meaning they won’t be able to run administrative commands or do things like install software.
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“The Internet is dangerous, so what if you just didn’t use it? That’s the somewhat ironic recommendation Google, one of the world’s largest Internet companies, is making to its employees. CNBC’s Jennifer Elias reports that Google is “starting a new pilot program where some employees will be restricted to Internet-free desktop PCs” while they work. An internal memo seen by CNBC notes that “Googlers are frequent targets of attacks” by criminals, and a great way to combat that is to not be on the Internet.”