Source: MessageLabs Intelligence, July 2008
Web misuse can have serious implications for your business:
 Reduced productivity. If employees spend their time on a social networking site such as Facebook, they’re not spending it doing their job.
Security problems. Malware hides on websites and can install itself as users browse infected pages. MessageLabs Intelligence reports that the number of new, malicious websites blocked each day by MessageLabs nearly doubled (91 percent) in just one month with 3,968 new sites intercepted daily.2
Legal risks. When users download inappropriate material to their computers, other employees may take serious offense which in turn can create legal liabilities for managers.
Wasted bandwidth. Internet connections cost money. If half your bandwidth is taken up with non-work related web traffic, you could potentially be paying twice as much as you need to and your business-critical communications could be running at half their speed capacity.
Unlicensed software. When users download and install software from the internet, they create a legal risk. Software piracy is illegal. If an organization uses illegal copies of software, it may face a civil suit and company directors risk criminal penalties.
Reputation risk. Social networking can create opportunities for employees to leak confidential information or spread damaging rumors online. Bad behavior by a single employee can reflect on the reputation of the whole organization.
Finding Solutions?
Blocking non-business internet access:
In the face of all these problems, many managers’ first reaction might be to block all employee access to the internet.
It makes sense to block certain sites outright. Pornography sites are an obvious example, but most companies may also consider gambling and game sites as utterly unrelated to work, potentially time-wasting and block them as well. According to the 2007 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey from American Management Association and the ePolicy Institute , Ninety-six percent of employers who block web access are concerned about employees’ visiting adult sites with sexual content. Companies also use URL blocks to stop users from visiting game sites (61%), social networking sites (50%), entertainment sites (27%), sports sites (21%) and external blogs (18%) .
However, completely blocking internet access may not be the right approach for your business.
Monitoring employee behavior online:
Monitoring inappropriate use may seem to be the lesser of two evils compared with blocking access to large parts of the internet. Having blocked the worst websites, you may wish to trust your employees’ judgment. You may want to allow employees access to social networking sites if it means that they can organize their social life without spending hours on the phone. You might also allow people to shop online if it saves them time and lets them achieve a better work-life balance.
Keep in mind, when you decide to allow employees access to the internet, it is in your best interest to ensure that they are aware of the laws around electronic communications in the workplace. The Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) makes it clear that a company-provided computer system is the property of the employer. U.S. employers have the legal right to monitor all employee computer activities, transmissions and content which including incoming, outgoing and internal email messages, as well as web surfing, downloads and uploads. Making sure your employees are aware of the laws surrounding internet usage may encourage them to use better judgment when surfing the net. Even though the ECPA may not be authorized in other countries, such intension is aware worldwide.
Policy matters
It’s clear that blocking or monitoring web use requires careful thought. Any decision needs to be backed up by a clear, acceptable usage policy for the internet. According to the Not Just Words: Enforce Your Email and Web Acceptable Usage Policies (AUP) which was written by the ePolicy Institute is a good resource to help determine what should be covered in your AUP.
Each company has its own ethos. Some managers may take a more laissez-faire approach while others want to lock everything down. Some people need full access to the web and companies may wish to give some departments or individuals more latitude than others. A good example is your Human Resources department who might use Facebook or Linkedin for recruiting purposes. The use of social networking sites may be suitable in that capacity, but your Finance department may not have a work-related use for such sites.
When thinking about employee internet access and your company’s well-being, consider the following:
Do I have a solution in place that can effectively block web-born malware, viruses and spyware?
Does my solution allow me to create web filtering and monitoring rules for different groups or employees? How flexible is my solution?
Have I clearly defined a written Web Acceptable Usage Policy?
In the end, it comes down to choice. Where do you draw the line? How do you balance individual access with the overall protection and good of the business? What is the correct balance between monitoring and blocking? There is no right answer. It varies from company to company. But there is, perhaps, a right way to go about it.
Our Solution: eWorld Net-Guard (Network Behavioural Management)
Net-Guard: control user's network activities, gives real-time analysis –
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From a single portal, managers can set up policies – blocking sites individually or by category. They can also set different policies for different types of users. The same ClientNet portal gives managers detailed reports on internet use in their company. In addition to policy management, eWorld technology gives companies a unique and powerful way to protect its clients against web-born malware. When your employees ask for a web page, the request goes through your system first so it can scan the page for malware and check whether the request against your company policies.
The eWorld Net-Guard service gives companies the ability to monitor and enforce their internet usage policies; whether they are very restrictive or very liberal, whether they favor monitoring or blocking. eWorld service brings site monitoring and URL filtering together with industry leading anti-virus and anti-spyware protection. As the worldwide Internet becomes an increasingly more important business tool, companies need the best possible solution to help protecting their computer systems, their reputation and their employees.
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