Resellers must act as advisors to end-users on P2P threat, says survey
CRN, 05 Apr 2004
Companies do not recognise the threat peer-to-peer (P2P) software poses and need education from the channel, according to research by analyst firm e-media.
The survey, commissioned by vendor SurfControl, questioned senior managers at 500 UK firms. It found that 42 per cent of respondents do not think they have a policy on P2P use, while 16 per cent do not know at all.
"Resellers have a massive part to play here. They are the consultants and advisors to end-users," said Martino Corbelli, director of marketing for security vendor SurfControl.
He added that the vast majority of content downloaded from P2P sites is either copyrighted or - even worse - pornographic.
Wendy Hoey, product manager at distributor Unipalm, said: "Most customers don't realise there is a problem with P2P.
"But the bandwidth drain and security problems are becoming better known, and we're seeing a big take-up in services because of it."
New technologies have brought with them a new wave of security challenges. Resellers stand to benefit if they help end-users to create and manage the systems and policies required
While most IT managers concentrate on protecting the network from outside viruses and hackers, the biggest threat most organisations face is often found just down the corridor
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