RE: VPN questions

Boy, I thought this was going to be a short thread!  It seems to be delving
into such fine (low-level?) points of security that I can only rely on
expert opinions, as opposed to making intelligent decisions.  It seems to
me, decidedly non-expert in terms of security, that the several of you
participating in this thread know what you're talking about.

So I would just like to ask where some of you are in disagreement.  Is it
simply a matter of opinion of the risk of exposure?  I acknowledge that
there is risk involved in everything we do.  One of you might say that the
risk of exposure of surfing the web locally while having a VPN connection to
work is so miniscule that it's not worth worrying about, and someone else
may feel that it is significant enough that it shouldn't be allowed.  Or are
there two (or 500) ways to bake a cake?  Both have made their decisions
based on education and experience.  It is clear that everyone here behaves
professionally, and I am thankful that there are no pi$$ing matches.  (So
let's keep it that way! <G>)  But this also means that I'm not getting a
clear picture of the nature of the differences.

In the end, this has made me sharply aware of my security deficiencies.  But
I have also learned a bunch.

Thanks!
db