In the early years of the Internet, protecting your company from unsuitable or unseemly Internet content was simple: Block network access to the sites people shouldn't visit on company time or equipment.
Now, with the number of URLs on the Web hitting 1 trillion, according to Google (Nasdaq: GOOG), that's obviously not feasible, even as the potential downsides of workers spending time in cyberspace's less-respectable neighborhoods have increased dramatically. Plus, the dangers aren't just limited to those shady sites.
Bottom line: Web filtering has gotten a lot more complicated for companies than just blocking porn sites and ESPN.
The good news is that an array of companies, from Internet service providers to third-party applications providers to major security outfits, now supply a range of tools to monitor and regulate how employees use the company network. At the same time, HR and IT departments have become more sophisticated about how they limit employees' Web activities.
It's a rare company that doesn't include some form of acceptable Internet use policy in its employee handbooks. There's been an attitudinal shift to where many businesses now view a certain level of personal Web surfing as a natural outgrowth of Web access and a form of personal freedom, like going to the dentist on company time. They're willing to trade off some cyber-goofing-off for the productivity benefits of ubiquitous high-speed Web access.
Unfortunately, as companies' tolerance has grown, so have the online threats, which range from malicious or accidental distribution of proprietary information to malware that doesn't require a visit to xxx.HotCoeds to find its way onto corporate networks. Web risk management company Websense Inc. (Nasdaq: WBSN) estimates that as much as 75 percent of malware now originates from reputable, high-traffic name-brand sites.
The primary reason to check company internet usage is security. Yes, it's good to check for malware also, but security is the main reason. In this month's copy of CFO Magazine, CFO's ranked security at the bottom of their worries. That makes me think all CFO'a should talk to their IT people and find out how hard it is to take a ton of company information out on a 32-gig thumb drive. Or even an eight. IT paranoia does work when dealing with the internet. The weakest link in any company is an employee. Someone downloading something from a 'known' website doesn't mean that the employee isn't uploading something there. Malware is a big threat I know, but the biggest risk is security.
Great overview. I think the key is this quote from the article "The concern today is less
with how much time employees might be wasting on sports, gambling, or
adult sites, and more with how many doors into critical systems they're
unwittingly opening while goofing off."
I oversaw blocks on Facebook and MySpace not because of time wasting but because they were the cause of too many viruses. Granted our anti-virus programs were catching them - but why keep testing fate for a non-business site.
Blocking for security is not really an issue anymore. I'm willing to be that some folks who said they did no blocking in the survey really meant no blocking for content.
Monitoring or censuring web use is a daunting task and I think the companies that attempt to do so are pretty much wasting their time and money.
Employers can and should treat computer use like they do private message telephone use. Set up reasonable guideline and if anyone crosses the line, they get fired or at least disciplined.
Do companies tape all telephone conversations to make sure no secrets are let out, or to keep personal calls to a minimum? Nope.
Let employees have some personal freedom but be strict on just what computer use is permissible.
I'm surprised by the percentage of respondents who said, "We do not monitor employees' online activities" (33 percent). As you point out, hbetts3, in this day and age between, the legal and malware exposure is such that the figure seems awfully high.
Or have we been reading too many infosec stories and reports for too long? What I used to think of as paranoia is now just common sense in the articles of faith in security management.
I am not offended by my company checking my internet usage while I am at work. Most especially if that usage exposes my company to risk. Nor should any professional. The internet is a privilege, not a right. Using it from your company is most certainly not a right.
Personally, I consider it the hight of hubris to believe that my internet usage does not pose a threat to my company. No matter how careful I am about where I surf, there are too many "clever" individuals in the ether finding ways to get their malware onto my PC and possibly my company's network. So, I say to them, "MORE POWER."
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