Seventy percent of the companies surveyed by SmoothWall recognised that an acceptable internet use policy was crucial to the security of their IT systems, but 38% of employees governed by a policy did not know what it said. Forty percent of respondents said that a policy was in place but was not enforced.
The survey of over 300 business internet users found that 61% of respondents used personal email such as Hotmail and Gmail at work, while 41% used instant messaging applications such as Microsoft Messenger. Twenty-three percent admitted to using VoIP provider Skype software at work.
Thirty-one percent of respondents admitted to occasionally downloading music or videos over the internet while at work, with 8% claiming to do it on a regular basis.
Such activity creates problems for employers, warns SmoothWall: apart from the fact that downloading these large files consumes large amounts of internet bandwidth, employers could be considered to be complicit in any violation of copyright law.
The survey also considered the amount of non-work-related web browsing carried out by staff.
More than a third of respondents confessed to spending in excess of 30 minutes each working day accessing non-work-related websites, while 22% admitted to spending more than an hour per day. Fifteen per cent of respondents said they only accessed non-work-related sites during lunchtime and outside of core working hours.
News sites were found to be the most popular non-work-related websites, regularly visited by 85% of respondents. Shopping and auction sites were also popular, with 40% shopping online from work and 37% using eBay and other auction sites.
"Companies are obviously still not enforcing internet usage policies,” said George Lungley, managing director, SmoothWall. “We recommend locking down corporate networks to all but essential business applications and strictly controlling access to non-work-related websites during working hours.”
Ben Doherty, an employment law specialist with Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM, advises employers to enforce their internet use policies.
"As well as the adverse consequences highlighted in the survey, employers should be aware that in the most extreme of examples failing to enforce an internet use policy can leave the employer liable for compensation for claims brought under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. For example, employers have been held liable for compensation when they failed to prevent their employees from viewing and downloading pornographic materials whilst at work. Having an internet use policy is one of the ways in which employers try to defend such claims. However, if an employer who has a policy is aware of employees downloading pornographic images in breach of that policy and does nothing to enforce it then it is likely that they will still be liable. Given that compensation under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 is unlimited the failure to enforce the policy can potentially be very expensive."
