The internet has created a global marketplace that offers
unprecedented opportunities. But with great power comes great
responsibility, says Geoff Haggart.
The web is, potentially, the greatest source of
information ever known, but it can also be a chasm within which no
ethical boundaries exist.
Helping organisations to harness this great opportunity while
ensuring it is a safe resource for the business environment is the
role played by employee internet management (EIM) providers.
Since the EIM market was pioneered in 2000, its role has changed
dramatically, and never more so than in the past year. Originally,
the demand was for a product that was focused solely on stopping
employees accessing, downloading or sharing offensive material.
Then, once companies felt they could successfully block
inappropriate material, the focus changed and issues surrounding
productivity were raised.
Not unlike a child in a sweet shop, workers suddenly had a new
range of activities at their fingertips and, understandably, were
overindulging. There needed to be an agreed, appropriate middle
ground that allowed access, within limits.
The internet policy was born and, although companies reacted
quickly in ensuring guidelines were drafted and in place, many soon
realised that simply generating a written internet policy was not
enough. In 2002, one in four UK companies dismissed staff for
internet misuse, and many found themselves front-page news.
EIM software became the logical way to enforce these policies.
However, in today’s environment, companies face an array of new
challenges that require a different approach and different tools.
Internet access is no longer just about stopping access to “bad”
sites or agreeing when people can and cannot use the web for
personal reasons, it is about ensuring the internet does not put
staff or the company at risk. It sounds serious, because it is.
Malicious code, such as viruses and worms, can infect networks
and cost companies millions in clean up costs - look at Nimda and
Code Red. Spyware can launch unknowingly on an employee’s PC and
read personal or company documents.
Peer-to-peer file sharing enables people to share not only
confidential documents but also pirated software or illegally
copied media files - all of which provide the company with legal
issues and, in some cases, companies have been held responsible, at
a cost of millions of pounds, for an employee’s actions.
What is, perhaps, even more shocking is that most of the
emerging internet-related threats do not require any intent or
malice on behalf of the employee - most damage is done without them
even being aware of what has happened.
It is the responsibility of suppliers to offer the most robust
and flexible EIM solution available, one that can, effectively,
protect the entire relationship between employee and the company’s
IT resources.
New technological advances continue to lead us into new ways of
working - look at the freedom it has already given us in terms of
flexible working. And control has to go beyond the traditional
gateway and on to both the network and the desktop.
EIM must continue to evolve alongside these developments to
ensure that it provides organisations with the right levels of
protection and support.
What do you think?
How do you balance the need for employee freedom with demands to
rein in the worse excesses of the internet?
Tell us in an e-mail
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Geoff Haggart is European vice-president of
internet filtering specialist Websense