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."
