Senior executives have buried theirheads in the sandover the use of social networks and
mobile technology in the workplace, and need to start dealing with
the risks, according to a report from the Economist Intelligence
Unit (EIU).
Denis McCauley, director, global technology research at the EIU,
said pressure is growing on companies to give staff greater freedom
to use social networks and mobile technology.
Few businesses are providing training on the safe use of social
networks such as Twitter and Facebook at work, but this is the best
way to manage the
risk of data leaks, hacks and viruses, he said. Training and
guidelines will be increasingly important as a younger generation
enters the workforce expecting more freedom in the way they
work.
He said, "These people have grown up with the internet and
mobile phones. They will demand choice, and this will challenge the
traditional model of IT security and how IT is delivered in the
enterprise."
Many CIOs, CTOs and CEOs are not embracing social networking,
either in managing their brand online or by seeing how it could
improve their business and the way staff work.
Allowing staff to use their own initiative, while providing
guidelines, will boost loyalty, staff retention and innovation,
McCauley said. Externally, social networks can provide customer
interaction and better collaboration with partners. But companies
are not embracing the opportunities, or managing the risks, which
he called "worrying".
Rik Ferguson, senior security advisor at Trend Micro, said it is
unlikely to be a technological failure that leads to social
networks or mobile devices being compromised, but a management
failure.
He said the issue will become more pertinent for companies as
the economy recovers and it becomes more of an employees' market.
If people have a choice on who to work for, they will increasingly
choose companies that allow them greater freedom.
"You can't bury your head in the sand," he said. "Online is
already massively important. You have to get involved now, because
if you do it when it becomes a necessity, you will be way
behind."
The answer to some of the problems new technologies pose is to
avoid a prescriptive approach, according to Jon Collins, managing
director of analyst firm Freeform Dynamics. The users of IT will
often find creative ways around draconian rules, and it may be that
policies need to be changed to fit the way they work.
"IT has to get out of that control mindset," he said. "If it
doesn't, people will work around it anyway. It is no longer right
to say this activity is allowed or not allowed."
He said companies need to approach things from a risk management
perspective, set clearly defined policies and be able to know when
they're being breached, and train staff so they're aware of when
they're breaching them.
Ferguson said, "Executives owe it to themselves and their
companies to understand better what technology can do on the
ground."