torrent security worries

[buzzz85]

Hi all,

bit of a newbie to Linux, so I apologize if this has been posted before.

Basically, I have a corporate laptop with XP installed on it. For privacy issues I decided to buy a 2nd hard drive so that I could run Ubuntu on it (for access to corporate restricted sites, such as youtube and facebook). Another thing that I wanted to look into was filesharing...

I understand that my ip address (and maybe even MAC address?) can be traced back to my laptop, so I'm a bit worried that it is possible for my company to catch me downloading music. My question is: is there any anonymous way that I can download torrents (or maybe even use IRC) on my Ubuntu hard drive without getting traced back to my specific laptop hardware (such as wireless card or motherboard)? Also, is it possible to change my ip and MAC address? I am currently using a wireless network in a hotel if that helps anyone.

Thanks

[Kinstonian]

I guess you don't like you're job very much, because you'll probably end up getting fired once you get caught. You're knowingly trying to bypass controls they have put in place. Not only that, but you're using company resouces to commit copyright violations (crimes) putting the company at risk. They won't like that.

IRC and bittorrent are both protocols that will create obvious anomalies on the network. It's easy to detect them.

[grigio]

you can use a virtual machine like Virtual box, VMWare,.. but you can't hide the traffic you do inside your company network.

[Bios Element]

The minute you start torrenting, It's going to show up in logs like a neon sign. You could probably get away with Youtube and such but torrenting will get you fired with little doubt.

[aysiu]

Although what you're doing is not necessarily illegal (it could be), we don't want this forum to be known as a place people go to to use corporate-issued laptops to violate corporate policy.